Microfluidic eletrophoretic ion nutrient sensor

This paper reports on an electrophoresis based microfluidic ion nutrient sensor for the detection of anions in soil solution samples. The device offers the capability to analyze concentration of various ions in extracted soil samples in a rapid and sensitive way. The polydimethylsiloxane-glass electrophoretic microchip features microfluidics for sample and buffer solution manipulation and in-plane contactless conductivity detection electrodes. An external programmable high voltage power supply system was built to achieve precise electrophoretic control during sample/buffer injection and separation steps. A simple detection circuit was used to extract and transfer detection signals for further analysis. Soil samples were extracted and analyzed for ions to determine feasibility of using this sensor as a rapid analysis method for monitoring ions in soil solutions of an agriculture system. The identity of the detection peaks was also confirmed by simulation.