Nano Terra, Inc. — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: A15-050

Description

Traveling wave electrophoresis (TWE) has the potential to become a powerful chromatographic tool for investigating the chemical (and even microbial) quality of reclaimed water. Unfortunately, due to the limitations of current TWE device designs and lack of a fieldable platform for analysis, the technology is restricted to low-throughput research-based applications. Manufacturability challenges with the current TWE device include (1) imprecise spacing between top and bottom electrodes, (2) poor sealing, and (3) a lack of a unified cartridge-style format (for both ease of sample injection and attachment to electrical contacts). The objective of this study is to design and manufacture TWE devices with substantial improvements over current devices including lower cost, higher reproducibility, comparable or better precision, and ease-of-use. Nano Terra will design and manufacture devices fitting these requirements by adapting recent advances in both passive microfluidic control (i.e., degassed-driven flow) and plastic-based microfluidics to TWE. The design will be a cartridge-style format with standardized electrical contacts, may be disposable, and come prepackaged for convenience. Alterations of the channel and electrode designs to optimize device performance or multiplexing will be straightforward and relatively inexpensive.