Tunable Bidirectional Electroosmotic Flow for Diffusion-Based Separations

Vesna Bacheva; Federico Paratore; Shimon Rubin; Govind V Kaigala; Moran Bercovici

doi:10.1002/anie.201916699

Tunable Bidirectional Electroosmotic Flow for Diffusion-Based Separations

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2020 Jul 27;59(31):12894-12899. doi: 10.1002/anie.201916699. Epub 2020 May 25.

Authors

Vesna Bacheva^{1

2}, Federico Paratore^{1

2}, Shimon Rubin^{1

3}, Govind V Kaigala², Moran Bercovici^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Technion-, Israel Institute of Technology, Technion City, 3200003, Haifa, Israel.
² IBM Research Europe, Säumerstrasse 4, 8803, Rüschlikon, Switzerland.
³ Current address: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, 92093, USA.
⁴ Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 78712, USA.

PMID: 32277549
DOI: 10.1002/anie.201916699

Abstract

We present a new concept for on-chip separation that leverages bidirectional flow, to tune the dispersion regime of molecules and particles. The system can be configured so that low diffusivity species experience a ballistic transport regime and are advected through the chamber, whereas high diffusivity species experience a diffusion dominated regime with zero average velocity and are retained in the chamber. We detail the means of achieving bidirectional electroosmotic flow using an array of alternating current (AC) field-effect electrodes, experimentally demonstrate the separation of particles and antibodies from dyes, and present a theoretical analysis of the system, providing engineering guidelines for its design and operation.

Keywords: diffusion-based separations; diffusivity; electrokinetics; fractionation; microfluidics.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't