The separation and sorting of micro- and nano-sized particles is an important step in chemical, biological, and medical analyses. In the past two decades, micro- and nanofluidic platforms have been increasingly applied for the separation, fractionation, sorting, and purification of all classes of particles based on their physical and chemical properties because of their advantages of minimal consumption of sample and reagent, ease of use, and enabling of the integration of multicomponent for comprehensive analysis. The separation techniques using micro- and nanofluidic devices are classified into passive methods using geometries and hydrodynamic effects at microanoscale, and active methods using external fields such as electric, magnetic, optical, and acoustic forces.
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