Xinyu Lu

An Unexpected Particle Oscillation for Electrophoresis in Viscoelastic Fluids Through a Microchannel Constriction

Electrophoresis plays an important role in many applications, which, however, has so far been extensively studied in Newtonian fluids only. This work presents the first experimental investigation of particle electrophoresis in viscoelastic polyethylene oxide (PEO) solutions through a microchannel constriction under pure DC electric fields. An oscillatory particle motion is observed in the constriction region, which is distinctly different from the particle behavior in a polymer-free Newtonian fluid. This stream-wise particle oscillation continues until a sufficient number of particles form a chain to pass through the constriction completely. It is speculated that such an unexpected particle oscillating phenomenon is a consequence of the competition between electrokinetic force and viscoelastic force induced in the constriction. The electric field magnitude, particle size, and PEO concentration are all found to positively affect this viscoelasticity-related particle oscillation due to their respective influences on the two forces.

Viscoelastic Separation of Particles by Size in Straight Rectangular Microchannels: A Parametric Study for a Refined Understanding

Microfluidic separation of particles has been implemented using a variety of force fields. We demonstrate in this work a continuous sheath-free separation of both a binary and a ternary particle mixture in viscoelastic polymer solutions through straight rectangular microchannels. This label-free separation arises from the flow-induced lift force that directs particles toward size-sensitive focusing positions in a high width/height channel. It is found to be a strong function of multiple experimental parameters, which is systematically investigated in terms of dimensionless numbers. We propose to explain the observed lateral shifting of particle focusing positions as a result of the competing center- (due to fluid elasticity effects) and wall- (due to fluid elasticity and shear thinning effects) directed elastic lift forces. The inertial lift force comes into effect at relatively high flow rates, which appears to reduce the separation efficiency and purity in our experiments.

Microfluidic electrical sorting of particles based on shape in a spiral microchannel.

Shape is an intrinsic marker of cell cycle, an important factor for identifying a bioparticle, and also a useful indicator of cell state for disease diagnostics. Therefore, shape can be a specific marker in label-free particle and cell separation for various chemical and biological applications. We demonstrate in this work a continuous-flow electrical sorting of spherical and peanut-shaped particles of similar volumes in an asymmetric double-spiral microchannel. It exploits curvature-induced dielectrophoresis to focus particles to a tight stream in the first spiral without any sheath flow and subsequently displace them to shape-dependent flow paths in the second spiral without any external force. We also develop a numerical model to simulate and understand this shape-based particle sorting in spiral microchannels. The predicted particle trajectories agree qualitatively with the experimental observation.

Simultaneous diamagnetic and magnetic particle trapping in ferrofluid microflows via a single permanent magnet.

Trapping and preconcentrating particles and cells for enhanced detection and analysis are often essential in many chemical and biological applications. Existing methods for diamagnetic particle trapping require the placement of one or multiple pairs of magnets nearby the particle flowing channel. The strong attractive or repulsive force between the magnets makes it difficult to align and place them close enough to the channel, which not only complicates the device fabrication but also restricts the particle trapping performance. This work demonstrates for the first time the use of a single permanent magnet to simultaneously trap diamagnetic and magnetic particles in ferrofluid flows through a T-shaped microchannel. The two types of particles are preconcentrated to distinct locations of the T-junction due to the induced negative and positive magnetophoretic motions, respectively. Moreover, they can be sequentially released from their respective trapping spots by simply increasing the ferrofluid flow rate. In addition, a three-dimensional numerical model is developed, which predicts with a reasonable agreement the trajectories of diamagnetic and magnetic particles as well as the buildup of ferrofluid nanoparticles.

Sheathless electrokinetic particle separation in a bifurcating microchannel

Particle separation has found practical applications in many areas from industry to academia. Current electrokinetic particle separation techniques primarily rely on dielectrophoresis, where the electric field gradients are generated by either active microelectrodes or inert micro-insulators. We develop herein a new type of electrokinetic method to continuously separate particles in a bifurcating microchannel. This sheath-free separation makes use of the inherent wall-induced electrical lift to focus particles towards the centerline of the main-branch and then deflect them to size-dependent flow paths in each side-branch. A theoretical model is also developed to understand such a size-based separation, which simulates the experimental observations with a good agreement. This electric field-driven sheathless separation can potentially be operated in a parallel or cascade mode to increase the particle throughput or resolution.

Continuous-flow dielectrophoretic trapping and patterning of colloidal particles in a ratchet microchannel

Trapping and concentrating particles in a continuous flow is critical for their detection and analysis as well as removal in many fields. A variety of electrical and non-electrical forces have been demonstrated to continuously capture and enrich particles in microfluidic devices. This work presents an experimental study of the development of particle trapping in an asymmetric ratchet microchannel under dc-biased ac electric fields. The dc/ac dielectrophoretic accumulation of particles in the first pair of ratchets and the dc electrokinetic shifting of particles into the second and subsequent ratchets are studied, which are found to depend on the particle moving direction with respect to the asymmetric ratchets. The dielectrophoretically trapped particles are eventually patterned into triangular zones in all but the first pair of ratchets for both the forward and backward motions. This developing process of particle trapping can be qualitatively simulated by modifying the channel geometry in the computational domain to mimic the particle chains/clusters formed in the ratchets.

Viscoelastic effects on electrokinetic particle focusing in a constricted microchannel.

Focusing suspended particles in a fluid into a single file is often necessary prior to continuous-flow detection, analysis, and separation. Electrokinetic particle focusing has been demonstrated in constricted microchannels by the use of the constriction-induced dielectrophoresis. However, previous studies on this subject have been limited to Newtonian fluids only. We report in this paper an experimental investigation of the viscoelastic effects on electrokinetic particle focusing in non-Newtonian polyethylene oxide solutions through a constricted microchannel. The width of the focused particle stream is found NOT to decrease with the increase in DC electric field, which is different from that in Newtonian fluids. Moreover, particle aggregations are observed at relatively high electric fields to first form inside the constriction. They can then either move forward and exit the constriction in an explosive mode or roll back to the constriction entrance for further accumulations. These unexpected phenomena are distinct from the findings in our earlier paper [Lu et al., Biomicrofluidics 8, 021802 (2014)], where particles are observed to oscillate inside the constriction and not to pass through until a chain of sufficient length is formed. They are speculated to be a consequence of the fluid viscoelasticity effects.

Electrokinetic particle separation in a single-spiral microchannel

The efficient separation of discrete particle species is a topic of interest in numerous research fields for its practical application to problems encountered in both academia and industry. We have recently developed an electrokinetic technique that exploits the curvature-induced dielectrophoresis (C-iDEP) to continuously sort particles by inherent properties in asymmetric double-spiral microchannels. Herein we demonstrate that a single-spiral microchannel is also sufficient for a continuous-flow sheathless electrokinetic particle separation. This method relies on C-iDEP to focus particles to a tight stream and the wall-induced electric lift to manipulate the aligned particles to size-dependent equilibrium positions, both of which happen simultaneously inside the spiral. A theoretical model is developed to understand this size-based separation, which has been implemented for both a binary mixture and a ternary mixture of colloidal particles. The obtained analytical formulae predict with a close agreement both the experimentally measured particle center–wall distance and the necessary electric field for a complete particle focusing in the spiral.

Charge‐based separation of particles and cells with similar sizes via the wall‐induced electrical lift

The separation of particles and cells in a uniform mixture has been extensively studied as a necessity in many chemical and biomedical engineering and research fields. This work demonstrates a continuous charge‐based separation of fluorescent and plain spherical polystyrene particles with comparable sizes in a ψ‐shaped microchannel via the wall‐induced electrical lift. The effects of both the direct current electric field in the main‐branch and the electric field ratio in between the inlet branches for sheath fluid and particle mixture are investigated on this electrokinetic particle separation. A Lagrangian tracking method based theoretical model is also developed to understand the particle transport in the microchannel and simulate the parametric effects on particle separation. Moreover, the demonstrated charge‐based separation is applied to a mixture of yeast cells and polystyrene particles with similar sizes. Good separation efficiency and purity are achieved for both the cells and the particles.

Electrothermal enrichment of submicron particles in an insulator-based dielectrophoretic microdevice

Insulator‐based dielectrophoresis (iDEP) exploits in‐channel hurdles and posts etc. to create electric field gradients for various particle manipulations. However, the presence of such insulating structures also amplifies the Joule heating in the fluid around themselves, leading to both temperature gradients and electrothermal flow. These Joule heating effects have been previously demonstrated to weaken the dielectrophoretic focusing and trapping of microscale and nanoscale particles. We find that the electrothermal flow vortices are able to entrain submicron particles for a localized enrichment near the insulating tips of a ratchet microchannel. This increase in particle concentration is reasonably predicted by a full‐scale numerical simulation of the mass transport along with the coupled charge, heat and fluid transport. Our model also predicts the electric current and flow pattern in the fluid with a good agreement with the experimental observations.