Microfluidic pumping based on dielectrophoresis

摘要

This paper presents a microfluidic pumping approach using traveling-wave dielectrophoresis (tw-DEP) of microparticles. Flow is generated directly in the microfluidic devices by inducing electromechanical effects in the fluid using microelectrodes. The fluidic driving mechanisms due to the particle-fluid and particle-particle interactions under twDEP are analyzed, and the induced flow field is obtained from numerical simulations. Experimental measurements of the flow velocity in a prototype DEP micropumping device show satisfactory agreement with the numerical predications.