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Micromachines for Dielectrophoresis, 3rd Edition

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A special issue of Micromachines (ISSN 2072-666X). This special issue belongs to the section "C：Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2023) | Viewed by 12722

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Dr. Rodrigo Martinez-Duarte

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Department of Mechanical Engineering, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634, USA
Interests: micromanufacturing; biomanufacturing; carbonaceous materials; electrokinetics; microfluidics; bacteria; composites; healthcare diagnostics; multicultural collaboration
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Dear Colleagues,

Dielectrophoresis (DEP) is an effective technique for the label-free identification and manipulation of targeted particles. Its applications are numerous, ranging from clinical diagnostics and therapeutics to advanced manufacturing and micro/nanorobots. Following two successful editions of this Special Issue (https://www.mdpi.com/journal/micromachines/special_issues/Micromachines_for_Dielectrophoresis; https://www.mdpi.com/journal/micromachines/special_issues/Dielectrophoresis_Volume_II), this third installment of "Micromachines for Dielectrophoresis" continues to emphasize novel techniques and processes for the fabrication of the next generation of devices that will further the performance of known applications and widen the range of possible applications of DEP. These innovations include new materials and geometries, volumetric three-dimensional (3D) structures, cost-reducing approaches, large-scale manufacturing, and disposable devices. Submissions that assess the effects of process parameters on the performance of DEP devices are particularly encouraged. Submissions integrating modeling and experimentation are preferred.

Dr. Rodrigo Martinez-Duarte
Guest Editor

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Keywords

microfabrication
nanofabrication
materials
3D printing
manufacturing
electrokinetics
performance

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Related Special Issues

Micromachines for Dielectrophoresis in Micromachines (12 articles)
Micromachines for Dielectrophoresis, Volume II in Micromachines (14 articles)

Published Papers (9 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 3490 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Rapid and Sensitive Detection by Combining Electric Field Effects and Surface Plasmon Resonance: A Theoretical Study

by Qijie Qiu and Yan Xu

Micromachines 2024, 15(5), 653; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi15050653 - 15 May 2024

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1159

Abstract

Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) has been extensively employed in biological sensing, environmental detection, as well as chemical industry. Nevertheless, the performance possessed by conventional surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensors can be further limited by the transport of analyte molecules to the sensing surface, noteworthily when small molecules or low levels of substances are being detected. In this study, a rapid and highly sensitive SPR biosensor is introduced to enhance the ability of the target analytes’ collection by integrating AC electroosmosis (ACEO) and dielectrophoresis (DEP). Both the above-mentioned phenomena principally arise from the generation of the AC electric fields. This generation can be tailored by shaping the interdigitated electrodes (IDEs) that also serve as the SPR biomarker sensing area. The effects exerted by different parameters (e.g., the frequency and voltage of the AC electric field as well as microelectrode structures) are considered in the iSPR (interdigitated SPR) biosensor operation, and the iSPR biosensors are optimized with the sensitivity. The results of this study confirm that the iSPR can efficiently concentrate small molecules into the SPR sensing area, such that SPR reactions achieve an order of magnitude increase, and the detection time is shortened. The rapid and sensitive sensor takes on critical significance in the development of on-site diagnostics in a wide variety of human and animal health applications. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Micromachines for Dielectrophoresis, 3rd Edition)

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12 pages, 3742 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Assessment of the Nonlinear Electrophoretic Migration of Nanoparticles and Bacteriophages

by Adrian Lomeli-Martin, Zakia Azad, Julie A. Thomas and Blanca H. Lapizco-Encinas

Micromachines 2024, 15(3), 369; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi15030369 - 8 Mar 2024

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1299

Abstract

Bacteriophage therapy presents a promising avenue for combating antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections. Yet, challenges exist, particularly, the lack of a straightforward purification pipeline suitable for widespread application to many phage types, as some phages are known to undergo significant titer loss when purified via current techniques. Electrokinetic methods offer a potential solution to this hurdle, with nonlinear electrophoresis emerging as a particularly appealing approach due to its ability to discern both the size and shape of the target phage particles. Presented herein is the electrokinetic characterization of the mobility of nonlinear electrophoresis for two phages (SPN3US and ϕKZ) and three types of polystyrene nanoparticles. The latter served as controls and were selected based on their sizes and surface charge magnitude. Particle tracking velocimetry experiments were conducted to characterize the mobility of all five particles included in this study. The results indicated that the selected nanoparticles effectively replicate the migration behavior of the two phages under electric fields. Further, it was found that there is a significant difference in the nonlinear electrophoretic response of phages and that of host cells, as first characterized in a previous report, illustrating that electrokinetic-based separations are feasible. The findings from this work are the first characterization of the behavior of phages under nonlinear electrophoresis effects and illustrate the potential for the development of electrokinetic-based phage purification techniques that could aid the advancement of bacteriophage therapy. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Micromachines for Dielectrophoresis, 3rd Edition)

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16 pages, 8809 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Numerical Simulations of Combined Dielectrophoresis and Alternating Current Electrothermal Flow for High-Efficient Separation of (Bio)Microparticles

by Hao Jiang, Yalin Li, Fei Du, Zhaoguang Nie, Gang Wei, Yan Wang and Xiaomin Liu

Micromachines 2024, 15(3), 345; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi15030345 - 29 Feb 2024

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1378

Abstract

High-efficient separation of (bio)microparticles has important applications in chemical analysis, environmental monitoring, drug screening, and disease diagnosis and treatment. As a label-free and high-precision separation scheme, dielectrophoresis (DEP) has become a research hotspot in microparticle separation, especially for biological cells. When processing cells with DEP, relatively high electric conductivities of suspending media are sometimes required to maintain the biological activities of the biosample, which results in high temperature rises within the system caused by Joule heating. The induced temperature gradient generates a localized alternating current electrothermal (ACET) flow disturbance, which seriously impacts the DEP manipulation of cells. Based on this, we propose a novel design of the (bio)microparticle separator by combining DEP with ACET flow to intensify the separation process. A coupling model that incorporates electric, fluid flow, and temperature fields as well as particle tracking is established to predict (bio)microparticle trajectories within the separator. Numerical simulations reveal that both ACET flow and DEP motion act in the same plane but in different directions to achieve high-precision separation between particles. This work provides new design ideas for solving the very tricky Joule heating interference in the DEP separation process, which paves the way for further improving the throughput of the DEP-based (bio)microparticle separation system. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Micromachines for Dielectrophoresis, 3rd Edition)

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11 pages, 2808 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Effect of Different System Parameters on the Movement of Microbial Cells Using Light-Induced Dielectrophoresis

by Devin Keck, Suma Ravi, Shivam Yadav and Rodrigo Martinez-Duarte

Micromachines 2024, 15(3), 342; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi15030342 - 29 Feb 2024

Viewed by 1413

Abstract

The manipulation of single particles remains a topic of interest with many applications. Here we characterize the impact of selected parameters on the motion of single particles thanks to dielectrophoresis (DEP) induced by visible light, in a technique called Light-induced Dielectrophoresis, or LiDEP, also known as optoelectronic tweezers, optically induced DEP, and image-based DEP. Baker’s yeast and Candida cells are exposed to an electric field gradient enabled by shining a photoconductive material with a specific pattern of visible light, and their response is measured in terms of the average cell velocity towards the gradient. The impact on cell velocity when varying the shape and color of the light pattern, as well as the distance from the cell to the pattern, is presented. The experimental setup featured a commercial light projector featuring digital light processing (DLP) technology but mechanically modified to accommodate a 40× microscope objective lens. The minimal resolution achieved on the light pattern was 8 µm. Experimental results show the capability for single cell manipulation and the possibility of using different shapes, colors, and distances to determine the average cell velocity. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Micromachines for Dielectrophoresis, 3rd Edition)

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10 pages, 3549 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Electrokinetic Manipulation of Biological Cells towards Biotechnology Applications

by Songyuan Yan, Zarya Rajestari, Timothy Clifford Morse, Harbour Li and Lawrence Kulinsky

Micromachines 2024, 15(3), 341; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi15030341 - 29 Feb 2024

Viewed by 1631

Abstract

The presented study demonstrates the capability of the template-based electrokinetic assembly (TEA) and guidance to manipulate and capture individual biological cells within a microfluidic platform. Specifically, dielectrophoretic (DEP) focusing of K-562 cells towards lithographically-defined “wells” on the microelectrodes and positioning singles cells withing these “wells” was demonstrated. K-562 lymphoblast cells, are widely used in immunology research. The DEP guidance, particularly involving positive DEP (pDEP), enables the controlled guidance and positioning of conductive and dielectric particles, including biological cells, opening new directions for the accurate and efficient microassembly of biological entities, which is crucial for single cell analysis and other applications in biotechnology. The investigation explores the use of glassy carbon and gold as electrode materials. It was established previously that undiluted physiological buffer is unsuitable for inducing positive DEP (pDEP); therefore, the change of media into a lower ionic concentration is necessary. After pDEP was observed, the cells are resubmerged in the Iscove’s modified Dulbecco’s medium (IMEM), a cell culturing media, and incubated. A dead/alive staining assay was performed on the cells to determine their survival in the diluted buffer for the period required to capture them. The staining assay confirmed the cells’ survival after being immersed in the diluted biological buffer necessary for electrokinetic handling. The results indicate the promise of the proposed electrokinetic bio-sorting technology for applications in tissue engineering, lab-on-a-chip devices, and organ-on-a-chip models, as well as contributing to the advancement of single cell analysis. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Micromachines for Dielectrophoresis, 3rd Edition)

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15 pages, 7052 KiB

Open AccessArticle

High-Performance Multi-Level Grayscale Conversion by Driving Waveform Optimization in Electrowetting Displays

by Wanzhen Xu, Zichuan Yi, Mouhua Jiang, Jiashuai Wang, Zhengxing Long, Liming Liu, Feng Chi, Li Wang and Qiming Wan

Micromachines 2024, 15(1), 137; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi15010137 - 16 Jan 2024

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1110

Abstract

As a new type of reflective display, electrowetting display (EWD) has excellent dynamic display performance, which is based on polymer coatings. However, there are still some issues which can limit its performance, such as oil backflow and the hysteresis effect which reduces the stability and response speed of EWDs. Therefore, an effective driving waveform was proposed to overcome these drawbacks, which consisted of grayscale conversions between low gray levels and high gray levels. In the driving waveform, to stabilize the EWD at any initial grayscale (low gray levels/high gray levels), an exponential function waveform and an AC signal were used. Then, the grayscale conversion was performed by using an AC signal with a switching voltage to quickly achieve the target grayscale. Finally, another AC signal was used to stabilize the EWD at the target grayscale. A set of driving waveforms in grayscale ranging across four levels was designed using this method. According to the experimental results, oil backflow and the hysteresis effect could be effectively attenuated by the proposed driving waveforms. During conversion, the response speed of EWDs was boosted by at least 9.37% compared to traditional driving waveforms. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Micromachines for Dielectrophoresis, 3rd Edition)

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13 pages, 1422 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperEditor’s ChoiceArticle

High-Frequency Dielectrophoresis Reveals That Distinct Bio-Electric Signatures of Colorectal Cancer Cells Depend on Ploidy and Nuclear Volume

by Josie L. Duncan, Mathew Bloomfield, Nathan Swami, Daniela Cimini and Rafael V. Davalos

Micromachines 2023, 14(9), 1723; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi14091723 - 1 Sep 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1532

Abstract

Aneuploidy, or an incorrect chromosome number, is ubiquitous among cancers. Whole-genome duplication, resulting in tetraploidy, often occurs during the evolution of aneuploid tumors. Cancers that evolve through a tetraploid intermediate tend to be highly aneuploid and are associated with poor patient prognosis. The identification and enrichment of tetraploid cells from mixed populations is necessary to understand the role these cells play in cancer progression. Dielectrophoresis (DEP), a label-free electrokinetic technique, can distinguish cells based on their intracellular properties when stimulated above 10 MHz, but DEP has not been shown to distinguish tetraploid and/or aneuploid cancer cells from mixed tumor cell populations. Here, we used high-frequency DEP to distinguish cell subpopulations that differ in ploidy and nuclear size under flow conditions. We used impedance analysis to quantify the level of voltage decay at high frequencies and its impact on the DEP force acting on the cell. High-frequency DEP distinguished diploid cells from tetraploid clones due to their size and intracellular composition at frequencies above 40 MHz. Our findings demonstrate that high-frequency DEP can be a useful tool for identifying and distinguishing subpopulations with nuclear differences to determine their roles in disease progression. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Micromachines for Dielectrophoresis, 3rd Edition)

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13 pages, 3276 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Migration Study of Dielectrophoretically Manipulated Red Blood Cells in Tapered Aluminium Microelectrode Array: A Pilot Study

by Muhammad Izzuddin Abd Samad, Darven Raj Ponnuthurai, Syazwani Izrah Badrudin, Mohd Anuar Mohd Ali, Mohd Azhar Abdul Razak, Muhamad Ramdzan Buyong and Rhonira Latif

Micromachines 2023, 14(8), 1625; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi14081625 - 17 Aug 2023

Viewed by 995

Abstract

Dielectrophoresis (DEP) is one of the microfluid-based techniques that can manipulate the red blood cells (RBC) for blood plasma separation, which is used in many medical screening/diagnosis applications. The tapered aluminium microelectrode array (TAMA) is fabricated for potential sensitivity enhancement of RBC manipulation in lateral and vertical directions. In this paper, the migration properties of dielectrophoretically manipulated RBC in TAMA platform are studied at different peak-to-peak voltage (Vpp) and duration supplied onto the microelectrodes. Positive DEP manipulation is conducted at 440 kHz with the RBC of 4.00 ± 0.2 µm average radius attracted to the higher electric field intensity regions, which are the microelectrodes. High percentage of RBC migration occurred at longer manipulation time and high electrode voltage. During DEP manipulation, the RBC are postulated to levitate upwards, experience the electro-orientation mechanism and form the pearl chains before migrating to the electrodes. The presence of external forces other than the dielectrophoretic force may also affect the migration response of RBC. The safe operating limit of 10 Vpp and manipulation duration of ≤50 s prevent RBC rupture while providing high migration percentage. It is crucial to define the safe working region for TAMA devices that manipulate small RBC volume (~10 µL). Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Micromachines for Dielectrophoresis, 3rd Edition)

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25 pages, 10511 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The System’s Point of View Applied to Dielectrophoresis in Plate Capacitor and Pointed-versus-Pointed Electrode Chambers

by Jan Gimsa and Michal M. Radai

Micromachines 2023, 14(3), 670; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi14030670 - 17 Mar 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1232

Abstract

The DEP force is usually calculated from the object’s point of view using the interaction of the object’s induced dipole moment with the inducing field. Recently, we described the DEP behavior of high- and low-conductive 200-µm 2D spheres in a square 1 × 1-mm chamber with a plane-versus-pointed electrode configuration from the system’s point of view. Here we extend our previous considerations to the plane-versus-plane and pointed-versus-pointed electrode configurations. The trajectories of the sphere center and the corresponding DEP forces were calculated from the gradient of the system’s overall energy dissipation for given starting points. The dissipation’s dependence on the sphere’s position in the chamber is described by the numerical “conductance field”, which is the DC equivalent of the capacitive charge-work field. While the plane-versus-plane electrode configuration is field-gradient free without an object, the presence of the highly or low-conductive spheres generates structures in the conductance fields, which result in very similar DEP trajectories. For both electrode configurations, the model describes trajectories with multiple endpoints, watersheds, and saddle points, very high attractive and repulsive forces in front of pointed electrodes, and the effect of mirror charges. Because the model accounts for inhomogeneous objectpolarization by inhomogeneous external fields, the approach allows the modeling of the complicated interplay of attractive and repulsive forces near electrode surfaces and chamber edges. Non-reversible DEP forces or asymmetric magnitudes for the highly and low-conductive spheres in large areas of the chamber indicate the presence of higher-order moments, mirror charges, etc. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Micromachines for Dielectrophoresis, 3rd Edition)

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