This paper presents an analysis of two of the most significant factors that affect particle movement in a dielectrophoretic microchannel: Drag force and Dielectrophoretic force (Figure 1). We have simulated particle trajectories for 2 and 10 micron diameter polystyrene beads in a dielectrophoretic microchannel under pressure-driven flow and analyzed the effects of fluid drag force and dielectrophoretic force on its trajectory. All particle simulations have been performed for two electrode types, thin film electrodes and dome shaped electrodes. The two electrode configurations are analyzed for their applicability in dielectrophoretic systems based on the extent of their dielectrophoretic effect in the microchannel. The results show that a higher dielectrophoretic effect and near-uniform field gradients along the particle flow path can result by using dome shaped electrodes. We also propose that this technique can be used for the manipulation of bioparticles. The suggested idea of using these results for bioparticles lies in the fact that the Clausius Mossotti factor for a bioparticle which would be based on a multishell model would be equivalent to a certain rigid sphere at the same applied frequency. Thus the simulation design can be used to evaluate the behavior of bioparticles with only the Clausius Mossotti information, without the need to model it into the trajectory tracking program and this can be obtained experimentally using dielectrophoretic techniques.
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