Manipulating particles in microfluidics by floating electrodes

Abstract

Various particle manipulations including enrichment, movement, trapping, separation, and focusing by floating electrodes attached to the bottom wall of a straight microchannel under an imposed DC electric field have been experimentally demonstrated. In contrast to a dielectric microchannel possessing a nearly uniform surface charge (or ζ potential), the metal strip (floating electrode) is polarized under the imposed electric field, resulting in a nonuniform distribution of the induced surface charge with a zero net surface charge along the floating electrode's surface, and accordingly induced-charge electroosmotic flow near the metal strip. The induced induced-charge electroosmotic flow can be regulated by controlling the strength of the imposed electric field and affects both the hydrodynamic field and the particle's motion. By using a single floating electrode, charged particles could be locally concentrated in a section of the channel or in an end-reservoir and move toward either the anode or the cathode by controlling the strength of the imposed electric field. By using double floating electrodes, negatively charged particles could be concentrated between the floating electrodes, subsequently squeezed to a stream flowing in the center region of the microchannel toward the cathodic reservoir, which can be used to focus particles.