Nanogap Electrode-Enabled Versatile Electrokinetic Manipulation of Nanometric Species in Fluids

Noninvasive manipulation of nanoscopic species in liquids has attracted considerable attention due to its potential applications in diverse fields. Many sophisticated methodologies have been developed to control and study nanoscopic entities, but the low-power, cost-effective, and versatile manipulation of nanometer-sized objects in liquids remains challenging. Here, we present a dielectrophoretic (DEP) manipulation technique based on nanogap electrodes, with which the on-demand capturing, enriching, and sorting of nano-objects in microfluidic systems can be achieved. The dielectrophoretic control unit consists of a pair of swelling-induced nanogap electrodes crossing a microchannel, generating a steep electric field gradient and thus strong DEP force for the effective manipulation of nano-objects microfluidics. The trapping, enriching, and sorting of nanoparticles and DNAs were performed with this device to demonstrate its potential applications in micro/nanofluidics, which opens an alternative avenue for the non-invasive manipulation and characterization of nanoparticles such as DNA, proteins, and viruses.