Investigation of Dielectrophoretic Microfluidic Trap System for Separation and Parallel Analysis of Single Particles

Abstract

Separation and identification of single molecules and particles based on their chemical, biochemical and physical properties are critical in wide range of biomedical applications. Manipulating a single biomolecule requires sensitive approaches to avoid damage to the molecule. Recent progress in micro- and nano-technology enabled the development of various novel methods and devices to trap, separate, and characterize micro- and nano-particles. In this dissertation, a microfluidic particle trap system to electrically separate particles at the single particle level was developed through particle manipulation methods using dielectrophoresis. The research in this dissertation will explain the operation strategy and setup of the novel dielectrophoretic trap system to separate and analyze single particle. The characteristics of the various shapes and sizes of traps were investigated experimentally and theoretically for single molecules and particles trapping.