Open AccessA disposable acoustofluidic chip for nano/microparticle separation using unidirectional acoustic transducers
Author(s) -
Shuaiguo Zhao,
Mengxi Wu,
Shujie Yang,
Yuqi Wu,
Yuyang Gu,
Chuyi Chen,
Jennifer Ye,
Zhemiao Xie,
Zhenhua Tian,
Hunter Bachman,
PoHsun Huang,
Jianping Xia,
Peiran Zhang,
Heying Zhang,
Tony Jun Huang
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
lab on a chip
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.064
H-Index - 210
eISSN - 1473-0197
pISSN - 1473-0189
DOI - 10.1039/d0lc00106f
Subject(s) - transducer , acoustic radiation force , materials science , microchannel , microparticle , nanotechnology , surface acoustic wave , microfluidics , nanoparticle , optoelectronics , acoustics , ultrasound , optics , physics
Separation of nano/microparticles based on surface acoustic waves (SAWs) has shown great promise for biological, chemical, and medical applications ranging from sample purification to cancer diagnosis. However, the permanent bonding of a microchannel onto relatively expensive piezoelectric substrates and excitation transducers renders the SAW separation devices non-disposable. This limitation not only requires cumbersome cleaning and increased labor and material costs, but also leads to cross-contamination, preventing their implementation in many biological, chemical, and medical applications. Here, we demonstrate a high-performance, disposable acoustofluidic platform for nano/microparticle separation. Leveraging unidirectional interdigital transducers (IDTs), a hybrid channel design with hard/soft materials, and tilted-angle standing SAWs (taSSAWs), our disposable acoustofluidic devices achieve acoustic radiation forces comparable to those generated by existing permanently bonded, non-disposable devices. Our disposable devices can separate not only microparticles but also nanoparticles. Moreover, they can differentiate bacteria from human red blood cells (RBCs) with a purity of up to 96%. Altogether, we developed a unidirectional IDT-based, disposable acoustofluidic platform for micro/nanoparticle separation that can achieve high separation efficiency, versatility, and biocompatibility.