AC Electroosmosis and Dielectrophoresis for Trapping Spherical Particles between Rectangular and Triangular Electrodes

S. Narayan[1], H. Francis[1], S. Ghonge[1], D.N. Prasad[1], A. Sethi[1], S. Banerjee[1], S. Kapur[2]
[1]Department of Physics, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, Hyderabad Campus, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India
[2]Department of Biological Sciences, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, Hyderabad Campus, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India
Published in 2013

We describe methods and results of simulations done for predicting behavior of particles in an aqueous solution under an applied AC electric field on electrodes of rectangular and triangular shapes. Here the two major effects which come into play are Dielectrophoresis and AC Electroosmosis. Two simulations have been presented, one for rectangular and one for triangular shaped electrodes. We have used the results of the rectangular electrode system which has been widely studied before, as a stepping stone to the triangular electrode systems. COMSOL Multiphysics’ Electric Currents physics and Laminar Flow physics are used to simulate Dielectrophoresis and AC Electroosmosis. We report the presence of trapping points near the vertex of the triangular electrode in our simulation.