Preventing biomolecular adsorption in electrowetting-based biofluidic chips

Electrowetting-on-dielectric (EWOD) is a new method for moving liquids in biofluidic chips through electrical modification of the surface hydrophobicity. EWOD-based devices are reconfigurable, have low power requirements, and can handle neutral and charged analytes, as well as particulates. We show that biomolecular adsorption in EWOD is minimized by limiting the time during which no potential is applied and through choice of solution pH and electrode polarity. The same approach may be useful for controlling biomolecular adsorption in other applications of hydrophobic dielectric materials. These results demonstrate the feasibility of implementing EWOD for fluid actuation in biofluidic chips.