Dielectrophoretic and AC electroosmotic trapping of DNA: Numerical simulation incorporating fluid dynamics and steric particle effects

In this paper the Dielectrophoretic trapping of nanoparticles in parallel electrode arrays is investigated. The numerical simulations presented take into account the steric effect of the particle collection yielding more realistic results than the non-steric model. Furthermore, the effect of the AC electroosmotic motion of the electrolyte is taken into account. The model is then applied to Dielectrophoretic DNA trapping. The simulations are compared with experimental results and allow for a plausible explanation of observations inconsistent with simple Dielectrophoretic theory. It is demonstrated that the discrepancies can be attributed to a significant extent to the AC electroosmotic fluid motion.