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Creation of single-particle environment by positive dielectrophoresis and liquid dielectrophoresis

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Abstract

Two electrical mechanisms for manipulating particles and fluids, dielectrophoresis (DEP) and liquid dielectrophoresis (LDEP), are integrated in a microfluidic chip for creating the single-particle environment. The fluid is activated by LDEP with a 100-kHz/240-Vpp signal. When the single polystyrene bead approaches the trapping area, positive DEP force is utilized to capture and immobilize the bead. After trapping the bead, the process of liquid cutting and droplet creation is employed to create a droplet containing a single bead by LDEP with a 100-kHz/320-Vpp signal.

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Acknowledgments

This study was financially supported by the National Science Council (NSC 101-2628-E-006-006) and made use of shared facilities provided under the Program of Top 100 Universities Advancement funded by the Ministry of Education in Taiwan. The authors would like to thank the Center for Micro/Nano Science and Technology at National Cheng Kung University for access granted to major equipment throughout the duration of this study and for their general technical support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electrical Engineering, Center for Micro/Nano Science and Technology, National Cheng Kung University, 1 University Road, Tainan, 701, Taiwan

    Chun-Hong Chen, Ming-Kun Chen & Ling-Sheng Jang

  2. Department of Electrical Engineering, Chinese Culture University, Taipei, Taiwan

    Min-Haw Wang

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  1. Chun-Hong Chen
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  2. Ming-Kun Chen
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  3. Min-Haw Wang
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  4. Ling-Sheng Jang
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Correspondence to Chun-Hong Chen.

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Chen, CH., Chen, MK., Wang, MH. et al. Creation of single-particle environment by positive dielectrophoresis and liquid dielectrophoresis. Microfluid Nanofluid 16, 525–532 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10404-013-1244-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10404-013-1244-3

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