Micro and nanoscale molecular traps (Collaborator: Prof. Nathan Swami)

We use dielectrophoresis (DEP), mostly implemented by insulator-based constrictions or electrodeless dielectrophoresis (EDEP), to manipulate biological molecules or cells by their polarization effects in a non-uniform electric field. Using a simple fluidic device that relies on the constriction of an insulating material to squeeze the electric field in a conducting solution, we have demonstrated the trapping of DNA, proteins, and cells. Our current focus is to study the effect of EDEP on the reaction kinetics and prove its potential to realize portable biosensors for early disease detection where target molecules or disease biomarkers are often in fM or less concentrations.

Figure 1: EDEP chip and close-up SEM micrographs of the fluidic channels with nanoconstrictions serve as molecular traps.

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