A review of dielectrophoretic separation and classification of non‐biological particles

Abstract

A review of dielectrophoretic separation and classification of non-biological particles Dielectrophoresis (DEP) is a selective electrokinetic particle manipulation technology that is applied for almost 100 years and currently finds most applications in biomedical research using microfluidic devices operating at moderate to low throughput. This paper reviews DEP separators capable of high-throughput operation and research addressing separation and analysis of non-biological particle systems. Apart from discussing particle polarization mechanisms, this review summarizes the early applications of DEP for dielectric sorting of minerals and lists contemporary applications in solid/liquid, liquid/liquid, and solid/air separation, for example, DEP filtration or airborne fiber length classification; the review also summarizes developments in DEP fouling suppression, gives a brief overview of electrocoalescence and addresses current problems in high-throughput DEP separation. We aim to provide inspiration for DEP application schemes outside of the biomedical sector, for example, for the recovery of precious metal from scrap or for extraction of metal from low-grade ore.

Microscale electrokinetic‐based analysis of intact cells and viruses

“…A large number of EK-based systems combine several EK phenomena, linear and nonlinear, within the same device, providing great flexibility for designing and fine-tuning challenging separation processes. This section is focused on electrode-based systems, mainly electrode-based DEP (eDEP), which has been extensively employed in many studies for the analysis of a wide range of particles, biological and nonbiological [62][63][64][65][66][67].…”

Conductivity-difference-enhanced DC dielectrophoretic particle separation in a microfluidic chip

“…Dielectrophoresis (DEP) is a popular electrokinetic method for separating particles and cells based on their size difference. 3–11 The DEP phenomenon is due to the existence of a non-uniform electric field, 12–14 and thus the magnitude of the DEP force experienced by a particle is proportional to the gradient of the square of the applied electric field. Increasing the DEP force is important for accurate particle manipulation.…”

Video Processing Electrophoretic Measurements under High Electric Fields for Sub-millimeter Particles in Oil

“…The flocculation of minerals and pollutant removal require proper in organic solvents 7) . Removing impurities and catalyst fines from bio-oil products, chemicals, and fuel is important for the food, pharmaceutical, and petrochemical industries 8) .…”