Electrokinetic Phenomena in Microfluidics and Nanofluidics and Their Lab-on-a-Chip Applications

Dear Colleagues,

Over the past two decades, ongoing research in the fields of microfluidics and nanofluidics has resulted in an increasing range of applications in the analysis of chemical and biological samples. Considering the advantages of their high flexibility and integrability, the capability of voltage-based control, and their domination over any other deterministic and stochastic forces at the micro- and nanometer scales, the electrokinetics and electrohydrodynamics of either linear or nonlinear voltage-dependence traits have already become the method of choice in these small-scale lab-on-a-chip devices delivering, manipulating, concentrating, separating, and sensing various kinds of leaky-dielectric soft-matter samples, including but not limited to ion species, charged biomolecules, micro- and nanoparticles, cells, fluids, droplets, and liquid interfaces. The involved phenomena may cover electroosmosis, electrophoresis, dielectrophoresis, dipole–dipole interactions, injection/conduction electrohydrodynamics, electrothermal convection, induced-charge electroosmosis/electrophoresis, flow field effect transistors, electrowetting, electrocapillarity, thermal–electric coupling, ion concentration polarization, ionic current rectification, electrochemical transport, streaming potential, etc.. These all arise from the electrostatic forces acting on either native charges or those induced by DC and/or AC electric fields externally applied across polarizable mediums confined in tiny channels, commonly at the quasi-electrostatic limit when local electroneutrality approximation is valid in the bulk. In order to review the state-of-the-art in the electromechanical behaviors of different target samples in micro- or nanofluidic chips, in this Special Issue of Applied sciences we welcome all original research or review articles on the fundamentals and applications of the various electrokinetic and electrohydrodynamic phenomena originated by distinct polarization mechanisms in modern micro- and nanofluidic chips.

Prof. Dr. Yukun Ren
Prof. Dr. Weiyu Liu
Dr. Ye Tao
Guest Editors

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• micro-/nanofluidics
• electrokinetics
• electrohydrodynamics
• electrochemical transport
• soft matter
• lab on a chip