Dielectrophoresis

Dielectrophoresis assembling cancer cells in a 3D microfluidic model.

Dielectrophoresis (DEP) is a phenomenon in which a force is exerted on a dielectric particle when it is subjected to a non-uniform electric field.[1][2][3][4][5][6] This force does not require the particle to be charged. All particles exhibit dielectrophoretic activity in the presence of electric fields. However, the strength of the force depends strongly on the medium and particles' electrical properties, on the particles' shape and size, as well as on the frequency of the electric field. Consequently, fields of a particular frequency can manipulate particles with great selectivity. This has allowed, for example, the separation of cells or the orientation and manipulation of nanoparticles[2][7] and nanowires.[8] Furthermore, a study of the change in DEP force as a function of frequency can allow the electrical (or electrophysiological in the case of cells) properties of the particle to be elucidated.

  1. ^ Pohl, H. A. (1978). Dielectrophoresis: The Behavior of Neutral Matter in Nonuniform Electric Fields. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521216579.
  2. ^ a b Morgan, Hywel; Green, Nicolas G. (2003). AC Electrokinetics: Colloids and Nanoparticles. Research Studies Press. ISBN 9780863802553.
  3. ^ Hughes, M. P. (2002). Nanoelectromechanics in engineering and biology. CRC Press. ISBN 978-0849311833.
  4. ^ Jones, T. B. (1995). Electromechanics of Particles. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521019101.
  5. ^ Kirby, B. J. (2010). Micro- and Nanoscale Fluid Mechanics: Transport in Microfluidic Devices. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-11903-0.
  6. ^ Chang, H.C.; Yao, L. (2009). Electrokinetically Driven Microfluidics and Nanofluidics.
  7. ^ Hughes, Michael Pycraft (2000). "AC electrokinetics: Applications for nanotechnology" (PDF). Nanotechnology. 11 (2): 124–132. Bibcode:2000Nanot..11..124P. doi:10.1088/0957-4484/11/2/314. S2CID 250885141.
  8. ^ Constantinou, Marios; Rigas, Grigorios Panagiotis; Castro, Fernando A.; Stolojan, Vlad; Hoettges, Kai F.; Hughes, Michael P.; Adkins, Emily; Korgel, Brian A.; Shkunov, Maxim (2016-04-26). "Simultaneous Tunable Selection and Self-Assembly of Si Nanowires from Heterogeneous Feedstock" (PDF). ACS Nano. 10 (4): 4384–4394. doi:10.1021/acsnano.6b00005. ISSN 1936-0851. PMID 27002685.