(222h) Simulation and Modeling of Insulator Based Dielectrophoresis

Microfluidics is an emerging field of research with broad range of applications in pharmaceutical bio-analytical and biomedical applications. Insulator based dielectrophoresis is particularly suitable for manipulating biological cells because of the low applied voltages and no direct contact of the cells with the electrodes. Electrokinetic and dielectrophoretic forces have been applied in these devices using various direct and alternate current sources to successfully trap, concentrate and manipulate particles and cells with a significant control.  Simulation of the electric field and understanding the forces is critical in further developing and tailoring the designs for a suitable application. Most of the existing models describe forces acting on a single particle and ignoring the effect of particles on the electric field distribution. Present study highlights the discrepancy observed in magnitude of forces between modeling and experiments. The effect of the presence of trapped particles on the electric field distribution is studied with the help of 3D models and simulation. Experimental results on the effect of particle concentration and size on the ability of the microfluidic system to trap will be presented to support simulation studies.