(286b) AC Field-Driven Dielectrophoresis in Concentrated Suspensions

AC dielectrophoresis is becoming one of the major techniques for micro- and emerging nano-scale systems because the use of an electric field requires no moving parts, employs polarization forces acting on a fine object that are insensitive to the object charge which is difficult to control and can be incorporated more favorably into micro-systems than more traditional methods. However, most of studies available in the literature consider dielectrophoresis in dilute suspensions. In contrast, our recent experimental and theoretical studies focus on fundamentals and applications of the field- and flow- driven phenomena in concentrated suspensions. We will consider the synergism of dielectrophoresis and electro-rheological effect in concentrated suspensions subjected to a strong field, which suggests a new method for field-driven fluid-particle separation.