Ph Microprobe Manipulated In Microchannels Using Optical Tweezers

SNARF-1 fluorochrome was used to functionalize 3 mu m diameter latex spheres making them sensitive to the pH of their environment, manifested as a change in their fluorescence. The fluorescence emission at 580nm was excited using a filtered xenon arc lamp at 515nm. A solution of functionalized latex spheres was placed between gold microelectrodes in a microfluidic channel. Optical tweezers were used to trap and manipulate the spheres in the vicinity of the microelectrodes, to map out the pH profile in the electrolyte solution, induced by passing 20 microsecond transient current pulses through the microelectrodes.