Patent ID: 11904318
Assignee: IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY RESEARCH FOUNDATION, INC.
Field: Chemical engineering (Chemistry)
Classification: CPC B  C | IPC A  B  C  G

Claim 0:
1. A microfluidic device comprising: at least one main microchannel, wherein the one or more main microchannel is connected to at least one inlet and at least one outlet, wherein water-in-oil droplets are infused through the at least one of the inlet(s), flow through the at least one main microchannel, and are withdrawn from at least one of the outlet(s);
at least two permselective membranes, wherein a portion of each permselective membrane extends into the main microchannel along a portion of the length of the main microchannel and a portion of each permselective membrane extends outside of the main microchannel for electrical connection; and
at least two auxiliary channels wherein the portion of the permselective membrane that extends outside of the main microchannel extends into a portion of an auxiliary channel wherein the auxiliary channel comprises an electrolyte solution, and wherein the permselective membranes do not extend into the same auxiliary channel,
wherein the water-in-oil droplets are in simultaneous contact with a portion of the permselective membranes as the water-in-oil droplets flow through the main microchannel,
wherein the permselective membranes is configured to allow ion exchange to occur between the water-in-oil droplet and the electrolyte solution, and
wherein a voltage bias is applied across the permselective membranes for in-droplet enrichment and separation of charged species within the water-in-oil droplet.