Combining field-modulating electroosmotic vortex and insulating post to manipulate particles based on dielectrophoresis

doi:10.1007/s10483-021-2706-5

摘要/Abstract

摘要： The dielectrophoretic technology has been one of the most frequently applied microfluidic technologies to manipulate particles. The way of a combination of controlled electroosmotic micro-vortices and dielectrophoresis to manipulate particles of different sizes was proposed in our previous work. However, the thickness of the modulating electrode is neglected. In practice, when the thickness of the modulating electrode increases, the channel flux increases, while the ability of the vortex to capture the particles reduces. In this study, a new method combining the field-modulating electroosmotic vortex and the insulating post is proposed to improve the manipulating capability of the field-modulated electroosmotic vortex to particles. The results indicate that there are three great advantages as the insulating post is placed on the channel wall on the same side of the modulating electrode. First, the capturing ability of the vortex to particles is greater due to the reduction of channel flux and the squeezing effect. Second, the range of regulating channel flux to achieve the optimal separation is extended. Third, the separation efficiency improves since the perfect separation can be achieved at a higher flow rate. Furthermore, the effects of the location and the size of the insulating post on particle separation are analyzed in detail. The present work could provide the reference for the application of the DEP technology.

关键词: electroosmotic vortex, dielectrophoresis (DEP), insulating post, particle separation

Abstract: The dielectrophoretic technology has been one of the most frequently applied microfluidic technologies to manipulate particles. The way of a combination of controlled electroosmotic micro-vortices and dielectrophoresis to manipulate particles of different sizes was proposed in our previous work. However, the thickness of the modulating electrode is neglected. In practice, when the thickness of the modulating electrode increases, the channel flux increases, while the ability of the vortex to capture the particles reduces. In this study, a new method combining the field-modulating electroosmotic vortex and the insulating post is proposed to improve the manipulating capability of the field-modulated electroosmotic vortex to particles. The results indicate that there are three great advantages as the insulating post is placed on the channel wall on the same side of the modulating electrode. First, the capturing ability of the vortex to particles is greater due to the reduction of channel flux and the squeezing effect. Second, the range of regulating channel flux to achieve the optimal separation is extended. Third, the separation efficiency improves since the perfect separation can be achieved at a higher flow rate. Furthermore, the effects of the location and the size of the insulating post on particle separation are analyzed in detail. The present work could provide the reference for the application of the DEP technology.

Key words: electroosmotic vortex, dielectrophoresis (DEP), insulating post, particle separation

中图分类号:

76W05

Bing YAN, Bo CHEN, Fanyun LIU, Jiankang WU, Yongliang XIONG. Combining field-modulating electroosmotic vortex and insulating post to manipulate particles based on dielectrophoresis[J]. Applied Mathematics and Mechanics (English Edition), 2021, 42(3): 371-386.

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