an9b02302_si_001.pdf (1.76 MB)
Selective Manipulation of Biomolecules with Insulator-Based Dielectrophoretic Tweezers
journal contribution
posted on 2020-01-14, 22:13 authored by Myungkeun Oh, Vidura Jayasooriya, Sung Oh Woo, Dharmakeerthi Nawarathna, Yongki ChoiInsulator-based
dielectrophoretic (iDEP) trapping, separating,
and concentrating nanoscale objects is carried out using a nonmetal,
unbiased, mobile tip acting as a tweezers. The spatial control and
manipulation of fluorescently labeled polystyrene particles and DNA
were performed to demonstrate the feasibility of the iDEP tweezers.
Frequency-dependent iDEP tweezers’ strength and polarity were
quantitatively determined using two theoretical approaches to DNA,
which resulted in a factor of 2–40 differences between them.
In either approach, the strength of iDEP was at least 4 orders of
magnitude stronger than the thermal force, indicating iDEP was a dominant
force for trapping, holding, and separating DNA. The trapping strength
and volume of the iDEP tweezers were also determined, which further
supports direct capture and manipulation of DNA at the tip end.