Development of dielectrophoresis chips and an electrode passivation technique for isolation/separation of nanoparticles

Isolation and separation of biological nanoparticles, such as cells and extracellular vesicles, are important techniques for their characterization. Dielectrophoresis (DEP) based on microfluidic chips is an effective method to isolate and separate the nanoparticles. However, the electrodes of the DEP chips are electrolyzed by the electrical signals applied to the nanoparticles. Thus, the isolation/separation efficiency of the nanoparticles is reduced considerably. Through this study, we developed a microfluidic DEP chip for reliable isolation/ separation of nanoparticles and developed a passivation technique for the protection of the DEP chip electrodes. The electrode passivation process was designed using a hydrogel and the stability of the hydrogel passivation layer was verified. The fabricated DEP chip and the proposed passivation technique were used for the collection and dispersion of the fluorescent polystyrene nanoparticles. The proposed chip and the technique for isolation and separation of nanoparticles can be leveraged in various bioelectronic applications.