1 Mechanical Engineering Department, Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi 127788, UAE.
2 Electrical Engineering Department, École de Technologie Supérieure, Montreal, Quebec, QC H3C 1K3, Canada.
3 Department of Applied Mathematics and Sciences, Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi 127788, UAE.
4 Department of Mathematics, Yarmouk University, Irbid 21163, Jordan.
5 Mechanical Engineering Department, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain 15551, UAE.
6 Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi 127788, UAE.
7 Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, QC H3C 1K3, Canada.
8 Electrical Engineering Department, École de Technologie Supérieure, Montreal, Quebec, QC H3C 1K3, Canada. vahe.nerguizian@etsmtl.ca.

Dielectrophoresis Multipath Focusing of Microparticles through Perforated Electrodes in Microfluidic Channels.

Biosensors (Basel). 2019 Aug 07;9(3):

Authors: Alazzam A, Al-Khaleel M, Riahi MK, Mathew B, Gawanmeh A, Nerguizian V

Abstract

This paper presents focusing of microparticles in multiple paths within the direction of the flow using dielectrophoresis. The focusing of microparticles is realized through partially perforated electrodes within the microchannel. A continuous electrode on the top surface of the microchannel is considered, while the bottom side is made of a circular meshed perforated electrode. For the mathematical model of this microfluidic channel, inertia, buoyancy, drag and dielectrophoretic forces are brought up in the motion equation of the microparticles. The dielectrophoretic force is accounted for through a finite element discretization taking into account the perforated 3D geometry within the microchannel. An ordinary differential equation is solved to track the trajectories of the microparticles. For the case of continuous electrodes using the same mathematical model, the numerical simulation shows a very good agreement with the experiments, and this confirms the validation of focusing of microparticles within the proposed perforated electrode microchannel. Microparticles of silicon dioxide and polystyrene are used for this analysis. Their initial positions and radius, the Reynolds number, and the radius of the pore in perforated electrodes mainly conduct microparticles trajectories. Moreover, the radius of the pore of perforated electrode is the dominant factor in the steady state levitation height.

PMID: 31394810 [PubMed - in process]