Finger-powered droplet actuation by electrophoretic force for portable microfluidics

We report finger-powered digital microfluidics based on electrophoretic control of droplets (EPD). An array of piezoelectric elements is connected to electrodes immersed in a dielectric fluid and deflected to charge and transport an aqueous droplet between adjacent electrodes. Using this scheme, we successfully demonstrated the transport and merging of aqueous droplets. Further, we confirmed direct manipulation of droplets of body fluids, such as human saliva, using our finger-powered EPD.