Microfluidic Device for Cell Trapping with Carbon Electrodes Using Dielectrophoresis

Dielectrophoresis (DEP) devices have proven to be one of the most promising tools to transport, accumulate and sort various cells and particles. The major challenge in the development of DEP devices is the high cost, low yield using Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). In this paper, we demonstrate a facile, low-cost, and high-throughput method of constructing continuous-flow DEP devices using screen-printing technology. Much literature has concluded that the use of carbon electrodes provides more cost effective and more durable DEP devices than metal electrodes. More efficient devices not only need to be constructed from a low cost material but also from an inexpensive fabrication technique. In this study, we used yeast cells as model cells to perform a comparative study on trapping efficiency of carbon and gold electrode DEP devices. We have proposed, the sealing of carbon DEP device with glass, instead of PDMS, using adhesive bonding technique which not only reduce the leakage problem but also increases the device performance. We also report the biocompatibility analysis of carbon paste and the results indicates its usefulness in eventual studies involving carbon-MEMS devices.