Creating sub-50 nm nanofluidic junctions in a PDMS microchip via self-assembly process of colloidal silica beads for electrokinetic concentration of biomolecules.

In this work we describe a novel and simple self-assembly process of colloidal silica beads to create a nanofluidic junction between two microchannels. The nanoporous membrane was used to induce ion concentration polarization inside the microchannel and this electrokinetic preconcentration system allowed rapid concentration of DNA samples by ~1700 times and of protein samples by ~100 times within 5 minutes.