Tunable particle separation in a hybrid dielectrophoresis (DEP)-inertial microfluidic device

SENSORS AND ACTUATORS B-CHEMICAL

卷:267

Article

Zhang, Jun¹  Yuan, Dan²  Zhao, Qianbin²  Yan, Sheng²  Tang, Shi-Yang²  Tan, Say Hwa³  Guo, Jinhong⁴  Xia, Huanming¹  Nam-Trung Nguyen³  Li, Weihua² 

[1] Nanjing Univ Sci & Technol, Sch Mech Engn, Nanjing 210094, Jiangsu, Peoples R China

[2] Univ Wollongong, Sch Mech Mat & Mechatron Engn, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia

[3] Griffith Univ, Queensland Micro & Nanotechnol Ctr, Brisbane, Qld 4111, Australia

[4] Univ Elect Sci & Technol China, Sch Elect Engn, 2006 Xiyuan Ave, Chengdu 611731, Sichuan, Peoples R China

关键词: Hybrid microfluidics;    Inertial microfluidics;    Dielectrophoresis (DEP);    Particle separation;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.snb.2018.04.020

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

Particle separation is indispensable in many microfluidic systems and holds a broad range of biomedical applications. Inertial microfluidic devices that work solely on intrinsic hydrodynamic forces and inertial effects can offer label-free, high throughput and high efficiency separation performance. However, the working range of the current inertial microfluidic systems is obtained by tailoring the inertial lift forces and secondary flow drag through flow speed. Each channel design is normally effective for specific target particles, which inevitably lacks the flexibility for various particle mixtures. Redesigning the structure and dimension of microchannels for new sets of particle mixtures is often time-consuming and expensive. In this work, by introducing an external dielectrophoretic force field and coupling it with inertial forces, we proposed here an innovative hybrid DEP-inertial microfluidic platform for particle tunable separation. The working principle of the device was explained and its functionality was validated by experiments. In addition, the dimension of target particle mixture can be varied by adjusting the electrical voltage without redesigning the channel structure or dimensions. It is expected that the proposed DEP-inertial concept can work as a flexible platform for a wide range of biomedical applications. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

【 授权许可】

Free