Dielectrophoretic separation of micron and submicron particles: A review

Abstract

This paper provides an overview on separation of micron and submicron sized biological (cells, yeast, virus, bacteria, etc.) and nonbiological particles (latex, polystyrene, CNTs, metals, etc.) by dielectrophoresis (DEP), which finds wide applications in the field of medical and environmental science. Mathematical models to predict the electric field, flow profile, and concentration profiles of the particles under the influence of DEP force have also been covered in this review. In addition, advancements made primarily in the last decade, in the area of electrode design (shape and arrangement), new materials for electrode (carbon, silicon, polymers), and geometry of the microdevice, for efficient DEP separation of particles have been highlighted.

CFD design of a microfluidic device for continuous dielectrophoretic separation of charged gold nanoparticles

“…By balancing the DEP and the drag forces, the slip velocity between the particle and the fluid is obtained as given in Eqn. 10 [13].…”

“…The multishell model is more accurate than the protoplast model for charged particle [13]. Therefore, in this computational study, the multishell model has been used for the calculation of the effective complex permittivity of the particle (charged core with EDL), suspended in the medium.…”

“…Several reviews on DEP separation of various biological and non-biological particles, which include the basic principles of DEP, experimental as well as numerical studies, design of microelectrodes and devices, etc. have been reported [7][8][9][10][11][12][13]. A recent review by Dash and Mohanty [13] has highlighted the advancement made in DEP separation of various types of particles.…”

“…have been reported [7][8][9][10][11][12][13]. A recent review by Dash and Mohanty [13] has highlighted the advancement made in DEP separation of various types of particles. Moreover, the mathematical models used to visualise the electric field as well as, the flow profile of particles under the influence DEP force has been dealt in detail.…”

Light induced DEP for immobilizing and orienting Escherichia coli bacteria

“…An alternative to the mentioned methods is dielectrophoresis (DEP); a technique that eliminates extensive sample preparation (no antibody labeling, one needs only to prepare a single sample) and provides a high selectivity at separating rare cells. DEP is the motion of a polarizable particle in a suspending medium due to the presence of a non-uniform electric field [8][9][10]. With no needs to know the surface properties of the desired cells, DEP can noninvasively sort populations through differences within the interior of cells, as well as their exterior.…”