A device containing microfluidic and nanofluidic channels was designed and fabricated to study the performance of an electrically driven nanovalve controlled by induced polarization of a ferroelectric substrate. The microfluidic component was fabricated in polydimethylsiloxane and designed to provide adequate driving pressure and flow rate for fluid flow in the nanofluidic component using only a common syringe pump. The nanofluidic component was fabricated on a glass substrate, coated with a thin film of lead-zirconium-titanate (PZT) substrate, and integrated with nanoelectrodes to induce surface polarization. The experimental concept is to use the polarizable surface of the PZT layers to control the motion of a nanovalve made of charged nanowires or biological molecules. The function of the nanovalve would be demonstrated by observing the fluid mixing behavior variation in the nanofluidic channels before and after the polarization of the PZT substrate. A successful device will prove useful for many applications including laboratory on a chip and release-on-demand drug delivery systems. This device can also be used to study the basic science of fluid flow and heat transfer at the nanoscale with the purpose of improvement in flow and heat transfer efficiency in nanoscale devices. (C) 2008 American Vacuum Society.