ABSTRACT
Adielectrophoresis-basedmicrofluidicchipappliedtocellspatterningisdesignedandfabricated, and it demonstrates non-contact and batch manipulation of cells. The microfluidic chip employs a PDMS microchannel and two ITO electrodes, which are designed as astep shape. The distribution of electric field caused by the microelectrodes is simulated by finite element simulation software, COMSOL. The position of the maximum intensity of electric field is also determined. The ITO microelectrodes and the PDMS microchannel are fabricated using MEMS fabrication process. After oxygen plasma surface treatment, the PDMS microchannel and glass substrate with the ITO microelectrodes are aligned and bonded to form experimental microfluidic chip. Through DEP experiment with the varying frequencies, DEP response of yeast cells is examined, and the electric field frequency of the both positive and negative DEP responses are confirmed. The results showed that yeast cells in solution conductivity of 60 μS/cm had negative DEP movement at the frequency of 1 kHz to 10 kHz, positive DEP movement at the 500 kHz to 10 MHz, and no DEP movement at the 50 kHz. Under the condition of the sinusoidal potential of 8Vp-p and the electric field frequency of 5 MHz, the yeast cells were aligned into chains along the step edge of microelectrodes.