Modeling and simulation of dielectrophoretic collective dynamics in a suspension of polarizable particles under the action of a gradient AC electric field.
When a suspension of polarizable particles is subjected to a gradient AC electric field, the particles exhibit collective motion due to an interaction between the dipole induced in the particles and the spatial gradient of the electric field; this is known as dielectrophoresis. In the present study, the collective dynamics of suspended particles in a parallel-plate electric chamber was investigated by simulating numerically the trajectories of individual particles under the action of combined dielectrophoretic and dipole-dipole interparticle forces. The particles were transported by the dielectrophoretic forces toward the grounded electrodes. Before long, when the particles approached the site of the minimum field strength, attractive/repulsive interparticle forces became dominant and acted among the particles attempting to form a column-like cluster, having the particles distribution in concentric circles in its cross-section, in line with the centerline of the grounded electrodes. Our results also well reproduced the transient particle aggregation that was observed experimentally.
Department of Applied Physics, National Defense Academy, Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan.
Shigeru
S
Tada
School of Physics and Electronic Engineering, Zhengzhou University of Light Industry, Zhengzhou, P. R. China.
Yan
Y
Shen
Department of Biomedical Engineering, The City College of New York/City University of New York, New York, NY, USA.
Zhiyong
Z
Qiu
D003198:Computer Simulation; D004560:Electricity; D004566:Electrodes; D004586:Electrophoresis; D055595:Mechanical Phenomena; D056004:Molecular Dynamics Simulation; D010316:Particle Size; D013499:Surface Properties; D013535:Suspensions
D013535:Suspensions
Dielectrophoresis; Numerical analysis; Particle separation; Polarizable particles