AC electroosmotic flow in a DNA concentrator

Experimental velocity measurements are conducted in an AC electrokinetic DNA concentrator. The DNA concentrator is based upon Wong et al. (Transducers 2003, Boston, pp 20–23, 2003a; Anal Chem 76(23):6908–6914, 2004)and consists of two concentric electrodes that generate AC electroosmotic flow to stir the fluid, and dielectrophoretic and electrophoretic force fields that trap DNA near the centre of the inside electrode. A two-colour micro-PIV technique is used to measure the fluid velocity without a priori knowledge of the electric field in the device or the electrical properties of the particles. The device is also simulated computationally. The results indicate that the numerical simulations agree with experimental data in predicting the velocity field structure, except that the velocity scale is an order of magnitude higher for the simulations. Simulation of the dielectrophoretic forces allows the motion of the DNA within the device to be studied. It is suggested that the simulations can be used to study the phenomena occurring in the device, but that experimental data is required to determine the practical conditions under which these phenomena occur.