Patent ID: 7799197

Claim:
A nanopump comprising: a supply reservoir for holding a supply electrolyte solution, disposed against a wall region of the reservoir, a membrane having a plurality of rectangular, substantially planar, parallel flow-through channels extending between an inner membrane surface adapted for contact with said supply electrolyte solution, and an outer membrane surface adapted for contact with a recipient electrolyte solution contained outside of the supply reservoir, where said channels have a minimum cross-sectional dimension between about 2 and about 100 nm and a hydrophilic surface, the electrolyte solution having a pH effective to import, a net surface charge to the surface of the channels, electrodes disposed on either side of said membrane for contact with said supply and said recipient electrolyte solutions, and a controller including a power source operatively connected to said electrodes for applying a selected voltage potential across said channels to pump said supply electrolyte solution in the supply reservoir through said channels by electroosmotic flow, wherein the net surface charge forms an electrical double layer within the channel, said electrical double layer occupying a significant proportion of the overall channel volume.