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High‐throughput dielectrophoretic separator based on printed circuit boards
Author(s) -
Giesler Jasper,
Weirauch Laura,
Thöming Jorg,
Baune Michael,
Pesch Georg R.
Publication year - 2023
Publication title -
electrophoresis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.666
H-Index - 158
eISSN - 1522-2683
pISSN - 0173-0835
DOI - 10.1002/elps.202200131
Subject(s) - separator (oil production) , microfluidics , materials science , dielectrophoresis , electrode , polystyrene , printed circuit board , nanotechnology , throughput , dispersity , micrometer , nanometre , electrode array , optoelectronics , computer science , chemistry , polymer , optics , physics , wireless , polymer chemistry , composite material , thermodynamics , operating system , telecommunications
The separation of particles with respect to their intrinsic properties is an ongoing task in various fields such as biotechnology and recycling of electronic waste. Especially for small particles in the lower micrometer or nanometer range, separation techniques are a field of current research since many existing approaches lack either throughput or selectivity. Dielectrophoresis (DEP) is a technique that can address multiple particle properties, making it a potential candidate to solve challenging separation tasks. Currently, DEP is mostly used in microfluidic separators and thus limited in throughput. Additionally, DEP setups often require expensive components, such as electrode arrays fabricated in the clean room. Here, we present and characterize a separator based on two inexpensive custom‐designed printed circuit boards (80 × 120 mm board size). The boards consist of interdigitated electrode arrays with250 μ $250\ \umu$ m electrode width and spacing. We demonstrate the separation capabilities using polystyrene particles ranging from 500 nm to6 μ $6\ \umu$ m in monodisperse experiments. Further, we demonstrate selective trapping at flow rates up to 240 ml/h in the presented device for a binary mixture. Our experiments demonstrate an affordable way to increase throughput in electrode‐based DEP separators.