Ultrafast measurement of transient electroosmotic flow in microfluidics

We present a non-intrusive molecular dye based method, i.e., laser-induced fluorescence photobleaching anemometer (LIFPA), to significantly increase temporal resolution (TR) for velocity measurement of fast transient electrokinetic flows. To our knowledge, the TR has been for the first time achieved to 5–10 μs, about 100 times better than that published from state-of-the-art micro particle image velocimetry (μPIV), which is currently the most widely used velocimetry in the microfluidics community. The new method provides us with new opportunities to study experimentally the fundamental phenomena of unsteady electrokinetics (EK) and to validate relevant theoretical models. One application of the new method is demonstrated by measuring the rise time of DC electroosmotic flows (EOFs) in a microcapillary of 10 μm in diameter.