Patent ID: 7914660

Claim:
A method of controlling the pH of a solution using electrolysis in a microfluidic device comprising an electrolysis device including an anode chamber having a first volume, a cathode chamber having a second volume, and a partition membrane between the anode chamber and the cathode chamber, wherein the anode chamber includes an inlet and an outlet through which an anode chamber solution enters and is discharged from the anode chamber, respectively, and an electrode, and the cathode chamber includes an inlet and an outlet through which a cathode chamber solution enters and is discharged from the cathode chamber, respectively, and an electrode, the method comprising: selecting the first volume and the second volume to have a predetermined ratio; flowing the anode chamber solution containing a compound having a lower standard oxidation potential than water into the anode chamber through the inlet of the anode chamber; flowing the cathode chamber solution containing a compound having a lower standard reduction potential than water into the cathode chamber through the inlet of the cathode chamber; applying voltage between the electrode in the anode chamber and the electrode in the cathode chamber to induce electrolysis in the anode chamber and the cathode chamber and to control a pH of the acidic anode-electrolyzed solution to have a first pH and to control a pH of the basic cathode-electrolyzed solution to have a second pH different from the first pH; and mixing equal volumes of the acidic anode-electrolyzed solution and the basic cathode-electrolyzed solution, wherein a target pH of a solution obtained by the mixing of the acidic anode-electrolyzed solution and the basic cathode-electrolyzed solution may be any pH determined according to the predetermined ratio of the first volume to the second volume.