Fabrication and characterization of trapezoidal electrode array for dielectrophoretic separation

This paper presents a microfluidic device for dielectrophoretic (DEP) separation based on trapezoidal electrode array (TEA). Differently from previous DEP separators in which cell/particles experience nonspecific particle adherence on the electrode surfaces, TEA can be utilized to eliminate the problem and to separate a variety type of biological particles continuously. In this study, particles injected into H-shaped microchannel are hydrodynamically focused to one side of the channel and then selectively deflected to the opposite side of the channel as a result of DEP response. Particle movements on TEA are observed and compared with the numerical simulation results.