Optimal design of 3-D carbon micro-electrode array for dielectrophoretic manipulation nanoparticles in fluids

The 3-D carbon micro-electrode array, have been designed and simulated for dielectrophoretic manipulation of nanoparticles in fluids. The effects of electrode shape, applied voltage, electrode spacing and geometric size of the electrodes on the gradient in the electric field intensity is considered. Results show that the magnitude in the gradient in the electric field intensity produced by square column electrodes is relatively larger compared to other two electrode shapes, which is favorable to realize dielectrophoretic manipulation of particles; the dependence on the applied voltage is found to be on the order of the applied voltage squared, and as the spacing and the width is reduced, the magnitude of the gradient increases exponentially. With the increment of the height of electrode, the electric field is extended into wider space, which is beneficial to the improvement of manipulation efficiency and throughput.