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Updated: Aug 15, 2026

AC Electrokinetic Phenomena Generated by Microelectrode Structures
Published on: July 28, 2008
Control of particle alignment in water by an alternating electric field
Masahiko Abe1, Atsushi Yamamoto, Masanori Orita
1Faculty of Science and Technology, Tokyo University of Science, 2641 Yamazaki, Noda, Chiba 278-8510, Japan. abemasa@rs.noda.tus.ac.jp
Abstract:
We attempted to align a large number of silica particles dispersed in aqueous solution by controlling the alternating electric field between the two electrodes (400 microm apart). Relatively large particles (9.9 microm) were found to align forming strings in the direction parallel to the electric field while relatively small particles (2.0 and 4.9 microm) were observed to align making stripes in the direction perpendicular to the field. The number of stripes formed by particles between the electrodes increased with increasing frequency of the alternating field. This peculiar perpendicular particle alignment appeared when the contribution to particle alignment of electroosmotic flow exceeded that of dielectric polarization and the osmotic flow was found to be stronger around the particles than in the vicinity of the electrode surface.
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