title: Continuous-flow Ferrohydrodynamic Sorting of Particles and Cells in Microfluidic Devices.
abstract: A new sorting scheme based on ferrofluid hydrodynamics (ferrohydrodynamics) was used to separate mixtures of particles and live cells simultaneously. Two species of cells, includingEscherichia coliandSaccharomyces cerevisiae, as well as fluorescent polystyrene microparticles were studied for their sorting throughput and efficiency. Ferrofluids are stable magnetic nanoparticles suspensions. Under external magnetic fields, magnetic buoyancy forces exerted on particles and cells lead to size-dependent deflections from their laminar flow paths and result in spatial separation. We report the design, modeling, fabrication and characterization of the sorting device. This scheme is simple, low-cost and label-free compared to other existing techniques.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center, The University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, USA.
authors.forename: Taotao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Engineering, Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center, The University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, USA.
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Center for Molecular BioEngineering, Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, The University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, USA.
authors.forename: Sarah A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Center for Molecular BioEngineering, Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, The University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, USA.
authors.forename: Eashwar
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rajaraman
authors.affiliation: Center for Molecular BioEngineering, Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, The University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, USA.
authors.forename: Mark A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Eiteman
authors.affiliation: Chronic Viral Diseases Branch, Division of High-Consequence Pathogens and Pathology, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases Pathology, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia 30333, USA.
authors.forename: Troy D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Querec
authors.affiliation: Chronic Viral Diseases Branch, Division of High-Consequence Pathogens and Pathology, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases Pathology, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia 30333, USA.
authors.forename: Elizabeth R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Unger
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Engineering, Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center, The University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, USA.
authors.forename: Leidong
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mao
keywords: Cell sorting; Continuous-flow; Ferrofluid; Ferrohydrodynamics; Microfluidics