Digital Microfluidics (DMF) is a new field of science and technology that introduces movement of nanoliter to microliter size droplets on patterned electrodes. Droplets can be moved, dispensed, merged, and split on devices. Sequential chemical reaction, and DNA extraction are examples of biological applications of DMF. In this thesis, sol-gel technology has been used as a coating method for thin film fabrication. Sol-gel is suitable for coating thin films with flexible shapes. BaTiO3 was used as a dielectric material for coating the insulator layer of the device. The material was spin coated on glass substrates. Devices were coated spinning at 500 rpm for 45 s, and annealed at 600 °C for 2hrs. The ceramic layer obtained, had a thickness of ~1 µm and average roughness of 60 nm. Nanoliter size droplets of water of ~400 nl were moved on the surface of the devices applying minimum voltage of 30 Volts.

Proteome profiling is the identification and quantitation of all proteins in biological samples. An important application of proteome profiling that has received much attention is clinical proteomics, a field that promises the discovery of biomarkers that will be useful for early diagnosis and prognosis of diseases. While clinical proteomic methods vary widely, a common characteristic is the need for (i) extraction of proteins from complex biological fluids and (ii) extensive biochemical processing (reduction, alkylation and enzymatic digestion) prior to analysis. However, the lack of standardized sample handling and processing in proteomics is a major limitation for the field. The conventional macroscale manual sample handling requires multiple containers and transfers, which often leads to sample loss and contamination. For clinical proteomics to be adopted as a gold standard for clinical measures, the issue of irreproducibility needs to be addressed. A potential solution to this problem is to form integrated systems for sample handling and processing, and in this dissertation, I describe my work towards realizing this goal using digital microfluidics (DMF). DMF is a technique characterized by the manipulation of discrete droplets (100 nL – 10 L) on an array of electrodes by the application of electrical fields. It is well-suited for carrying out rapid, sequential, miniaturized automated biochemical assays. This thesis demonstrates how DMF can be a powerful tool capable of automating several protein handling and processing steps used in proteomics.

Digital Microfluidics (DMF) is a new field of science and technology that introduces movement of nanoliter to microliter size droplets on patterned electrodes. Droplets can be moved, dispensed, merged, and split on devices. Sequential chemical reaction, and DNA extraction are examples of biological applications of DMF. In this thesis, sol-gel technology has been used as a coating method for thin film fabrication. Sol-gel is suitable for coating thin films with flexible shapes. BaTiO3 was used as a dielectric material for coating the insulator layer of the device. The material was spin coated on glass substrates. Devices were coated spinning at 500 rpm for 45 s, and annealed at 600 °C for 2hrs. The ceramic layer obtained, had a thickness of ~1 µm and average roughness of 60 nm. Nanoliter size droplets of water of ~400 nl were moved on the surface of the devices applying minimum voltage of 30 Volts.

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 2008. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 90-92). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.Eng.). / Written for the Dept. of Mechanical Engineering. Title from title page of PDF (viewed 2008/01/14). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Virginia Commonwealth University, 2008. / Title from title-page of electronic thesis. Prepared for: Dept. of Pharmaceutics. Bibliography: leaves 149-166.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2008. / Committee Chair: Roman O. Grigoriev; Committee Member: Daniel Goldman; Committee Member: Michael Schatz; Committee Member: Minami Yoda; Committee Member: Predrag Cvitanovic.

Thesis (M.E.)--University of Canterbury, 2008. / Typescript (photocopy). "3rd January 2008." Includes bibliographical references (p. 120-126). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaf 259).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Oregon State University, 2009. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 119-124). Also available on the World Wide Web.