Pumping without mechanical parts: Development of a low voltage electrochemical fluid pump utilizing membrane transport and redox chemistry

The use of micropumps for the movement of small volumes of fluid has become an area of interest in the analytical/microfluidics community over the past decade. There are several methods of doing this pumping which range from using large pumps and flow splitters, syringe pumps, and magnetohydrodynamic pumps to small capillary flow at high voltage with several variations on these themes.; The pump discussed in this thesis utilizes oxidation/reduction chemistry and the transport of ions and accompanying solvent molecules across a cation-exchange membrane. The work will describe the development of an electroosmotic micropump that operates at low voltages, is tunable for flow rates in the range 1--50 muL/min, and is easy to operate. Motivations, materials, cell design, and several results will be discussed as well as future modifications that could be made.