Belinda Kwok New Jersey Institute of Technology

NASA SHARP High School Apprenticeship Program mentored by Dr. Boris Khusid

science of designing, manufacturing, and formulating devices and processes that deal with volumes of fluid on the nanoliter or picoliter scale

measure of the devices themselves range from millimeters to micrometers

examples include inkjet printers, blood-cell-separation equipment, biochemical assays, genetic analysis, and drug screening

The behavior of fluids at the microscale is different from the macroscale in that the microfluidic systems are greatly affected by surface tension, energy dissipation, and electrokinetics.

the study of the motion of particles

consists of four types of forces

1. Electrophoresis (well known)

2. Dielectrophoresis

3. Electrorotation

4. Traveling wave electrophoresis

the separation of ions or charged particles particles move through a nonmoving liquid in an electric field due to an applied force

method for sorting and separating particles in a liquid medium

depends on the polarization of the particles to move through the non-uniform electric field

http://www.ibmm-microtech.co.uk/microeng/dielectrophoresis/dielectrophoresis.php

two types

1. positive DEP - dielectric constant of the particle is greater than that of its surroundings

2. negative DEP - the medium is more polarized than the particle

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Dielectric Filter

Fluid Flow

Fluid Flow

Multi Layered Micro-Fluidic Cell

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ELECTRODE

DIELECTRIC

Dielectric Filter

Fluid Flow

Fluid Flow

Fluid Flow

Amundson, Marlys. “Nanoengineered Surfaces:Enabling New Technologies” UCLA Engineering. 2004. 28 July 2005. <www.engineer.ucla.edu/magazine/nanoengineered.html >

“Electrokinetics.” CFDRC. 2005. CFD Research Corporation. 28 July 2005. <www.cfdrc.com/bizareas/biomedlife/labchip_biomems/Dielectrophoresis>

Hughes, Michael Pycraft. Nanoelectromechanics in Engineering and Biology. New York: CRC Press LLC, 2003.

Microfluidics. Whatis?com. 2005. Tech Target. 28 July 2005. <http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci526632,00.html>

“Microfluidics.” 2004. Mst group and Olli Saksa. 28 July 2005. <http://butler.cc.tut.fi/~kuncova/MIFLUS/microfluidics_termtree.php>

Purohit, Vishwas. “Electrokinetics : Overview, History and Theory” Buzzle.com 15 March 2004. 28 July 2005 <www.buzzle.com/editorials/3-14- 2004-51669.asp>