A unique approach is proposed to boost on-chip immuno-sensors, for instance, immunoassays, wherein an antibody immobilized on the walls of a microfluidic channel binds specifically to an antigen suspended freely within a working fluid. The performance of these sensors can be limited in both susceptibility and response speed by the slow diffusive mass transfer of the analyte to the binding surface. Under appropriate conditions, the binding reaction of these heterogeneous immuno-assays may be enhanced by electroconvective stirring driven by external AC electric fields to accelerate the translating motion of antigens towards immobilized antibodies. To be specific, the phenomenon of induced-charge electroosmosis in a rotating electric field (ROT-ICEO) is fully utilized to stir analyte in the vicinity of the functionalized surface of an ideally polarizable floating electrode in all directions inside a tri-dimensional space. ROT-ICEO appears as a consequence of the action of a circularly-polarized traveling wave signal on its own induced rotary Debye screening charge within a bipolar induced double layer formed on the central floating electrode, and thereby the pertinent electrokinetic streamlines exhibit a radially converging pattern that greatly facilitates the convective transport of receptor towards the ligand. Numerical simulations indicate that ROT-ICEO can enhance the antigen-antibody binding reaction more effectively than convectional nonlinear electroosmosis driven by standing wave AC signals. The effectiveness of ROT-ICEO micro-stirring is strongly dependent on the Damkohler number as well as the Peclet number if the antigens are carried by a continuous base flow. Our results provide a promising way for achieving a highly efficient heterogeneous immunoassay in modern micro-total-analytical systems.
Keywords: bipolar floating electrode; induced-charge electroosmosis; microfluidics; on-chip immunoassay; rotating electric field.