Microfluidic Thermal Cycler with Electrowetting

Electrowetting takes advantage of a relationship between the interfacial energetic equilibrium of a conducting liquid and an electric field. Droplets can be actuated on a hydrophobic surface by subjection to controlled electric fields, giving the phenomenon a useful application to microfluidic solution of laboratory tasks. Many reactions in a molecular biology lab can be accomplished by temperature cycling, including the famous Polymerase Chain Reaction. In this project a number of surface treatments and morphologies were investigated as well as the control and switching of a sufficiently high voltage to actuate droplets in a microfluidic machine for completion of thermal cycling protocols in a biology laboratory.