Manipulation of micro-particles by flexible polymer-based optically-induced dielectrophoretic devices

This study presents a novel technology to manipulate microparticles with the assistance from flexible polymer-based optically-induced dielectrophoretic (ODEP) devices. Bending the flexible ODEP devices downwards or upwards to create convex or concave curvatures, respectively, enables the more effective separation or collection of microparticles with different diameters. The travel distances of the polystyrene beads of 40 μm diameter, as induced by the projected light in a given time period was increased by ∼100%, which were 43.0 ± 5.0 and 84.6 ± 4.0 μm for flat and convex ODEP devices, respectively. A rapid separation or collection of micro-particles can be achieved with the assistance of gravity because the falling polystyrene beads followed the inclination of the downward and upward bent ODEP devices.