Low Frequency AC Electric Field Research Articles

Concentration-polarization electroosmosis for particle fractionation.

Concentration-polarization electroosmosis (CPEO) refers to steady-state electroosmotic flows around charged dielectric micro-particles induced by low-frequency AC electric fields. Recently, these flows were shown to cause repulsion of colloidal particles from the wall of a microfluidic channel when an electric field is applied along the length of the channel. In this work, we exploit this mechanism to demonstrate fractionation of micron-sized polystyrene particles and bacteria in a flow-focusing device. The results are in agreement with predictions of the CPEO theory. The ease of implementation of CPEO-based fractionation in microfluidics makes it an ideal candidate for combining with current techniques commonly used to generate particle lift, such as inertial or viscoelastic focusing, requiring no extra fabrication steps other than inserting two electrodes.

Rapid Ascent of Hollow Particles in Water Induced by an Electric Field

A novel method has been proposed to induce rapid upward movement of colloidal particles with a density lower than water by applying an electric field of several V/mm in water. This phenomenon, known as the Electrically Induced Rapid Sedimentation (ERS) effect, marks the first occurrence of ‘rapid upward movement of colloidal particles’ within the scope of this phenomenon. Focusing on hollow particles, an investigation of the ERS effect was conducted through transmittance measurement. The hollow particles in water showed a drastic increase in ascending velocity through the application of an electric field. The ascending velocity raised when increasing the electric field strength. Utilizing a quasi-DC electric field (an extremely low-frequency AC electric field), aggregate structures were captured for the first time.

Low-frequency electrokinetics in a periodic pillar array for particle separation

Deterministic Lateral Displacement (DLD) exploits periodic arrays of pillars inside microfluidic channels for high-precision sorting of micro- and nano-particles. Previously we demonstrated how DLD separation can be significantly improved by the addition of AC electrokinetic forces, increasing the tunability of the technique and expanding the range of applications. At high frequencies of the electric field (>1 kHz) the behaviour of such systems is dominated by Dielectrophoresis (DEP), whereas at low frequencies the particle behaviour is much richer and more complex. In this article, we present a detailed numerical analysis of the mechanisms governing particle motion in a DLD micropillar array in the presence of a low-frequency AC electric field. We show how a combination of Electrophoresis (EP) and Concentration-Polarisation Electroosmosis (CPEO) driven wall-particle repulsion account for the observed experimental behaviour of particles, and demonstrate how this complete model can predict conditions that lead to electrically induced deviation of particles much smaller than the critical size of the DLD array.

Non-premixed counterflow methane flames in DC/AC/NS electric fields

The response of counterflow diffusion flames to sub-breakdown DC and AC electric fields, as well as their superposition with ns pulse discharge waveforms, is studied in the plane-to-plane electrode geometry. Sub-breakdown DC and low-frequency AC electric fields cause the flame displacement toward the grounded electrode, in the direction of the applied field, indicating that the body force on the positive ions exceeds that on the electrons and negative ions. As the AC frequency increases, the flame response becomes less pronounced, due to the reduction of the electrohydrodynamic (EHD) body force impulse over the AC half-period. The electric field in the electrode gap is determined by ps Electric Field Induced Second Harmonic (E-FISH) generation, with absolute calibration using sub-breakdown ns pulses overlapped with the measured electric field waveform. The results show that the electric field distribution across the flame in the current saturation regime follows the Laplacian field. This indicates that the space charge density in the gap is too low to distort the applied DC or AC field, consistent with the kinetic modeling predictions. Combining a nanosecond pulse discharge with a sub-breakdown DC field generates a diffuse plasma across the entire gap. Time-resolved and spatially resolved measurements of the electric field in the discharge indicate the ionization wave propagation between the electrodes. The present results do not exhibit a detectable flame displacement enhancement by ns discharge pulses combined with a sub-breakdown field, observed previously. Kinetic modeling calculations show that the absence of this effect in the plane-to-plane geometry is due to the rapid plasma self-shielding. This indicates that alternative electrode geometries limiting the self-shielding would be more effective for the plasma / electric field enhanced flameholding and flame stabilization applications.

Concentration-Polarization Electroosmosis near Insulating Constrictions within Microfluidic Channels.

Electric fields are commonly used to trap and separate micro- and nanoparticles near channel constrictions in microfluidic devices. The trapping mechanism is attributed to the electrical forces arising from the nonhomogeneous electric field caused by the constrictions, and the phenomenon is known as insulator-based-dielectrophoresis (iDEP). In this paper, we describe stationary electroosmotic flows of electrolytes around insulating constrictions induced by low frequency AC electric fields (below 10 kHz). Experimental characterization of the flows is described for two different channel heights (50 and 10 μm), together with numerical simulations based on an electrokinetic model that considers the modification of the local ionic concentration due to surface conductance on charged insulating walls. We term this phenomenon concentration–polarization electroosmosis (CPEO). The observed flow characteristics are in qualitative agreement with the predictions of this model. However, for shallow channels (10 μm), trapping of the particles on both sides of the constrictions is also observed. This particle and fluid behavior could play a major role in iDEP and could be easily misinterpreted as a dielectrophoretic force.

The latest advances on nonlinear insulator-based electrokinetic microsystems under direct current and low-frequency alternating current fields: a review

This review article presents an overview of the evolution of the field of insulator-based dielectrophoresis (iDEP); in particular, it focuses on insulator-based electrokinetic (iEK) systems stimulated with direct current and low-frequency(< 1kHz) AC electric fields. The article covers the surge of iDEP as a research field where many different device designs were developed, from microchannels with arrays of insulating posts to devices with curved walls and nano- and micropipettes. All of these systems allowed for the manipulation and separation of a wide array of particles, ranging from macromolecules to microorganisms, including clinical and biomedical applications. Recent experimental reports, supported by important theoretical studies in the field of physics and colloids, brought attention to the effects of electrophoresis of the second kind in these systems. These recent findings suggest that DEP is not the main force behind particle trapping, as it was believed for the last two decades. This new research suggests that particle trapping, under DC and low-frequency AC potentials, mainly results from a balance between electroosmotic and electrophoretic effects (linear and nonlinear); although DEP is present in these systems, it is not a dominant force. Considering these recent studies, it is proposed to rename this field from DC-iDEP to DC-iEK (and low-frequency AC-iDEP to low-frequency AC-iEK). Whereas much research is still needed, this is an exciting time in the field of microscale EK systems, as these new findings seem to explain the challenges with modeling particle migration and trapping in iEK devices, and provide perhaps a better understanding of the mechanisms behind particle trapping.

AC Insulator-Based Dielectrophoretic Focusing of Particles and Cells in an "Infinite" Microchannel.

It is often necessary to prefocus particles and cells into a tight stream for subsequent separation and/or analysis in microfluidic devices. A DC electric field has been widely used for particle and cell focusing in insulator-based dielectrophoretic (iDEP) microdevices, where a large field magnitude, a high constriction ratio, and/or a long microchannel are usually required to enhance the iDEP effect. We demonstrate, in this work, an AC iDEP focusing technique, which utilizes a low-frequency AC electric field to generate both an oscillatory electrokinetic flow of the particle/cell suspension and a field direction-independent dielectrophoretic force for particle/cell focusing in a virtually "infinite" microchannel. We also develop a theoretical analysis to evaluate this focusing in terms of the AC voltage frequency, amplitude, and particle size, which are each validated through both experimental demonstration and numerical simulation. The effectiveness of AC iDEP focusing increases with the second order of electric field magnitude, superior to DC iDEP focusing with only a first-order dependence. This feature and the "infinite" channel length together remove the necessity of large electric field and/or small constriction in DC iDEP focusing of small particles.

Mixing mechanism of a straight channel micromixer based on light-actuated oscillating electroosmosis in low-frequency sinusoidal AC electric field

The traditional electroosmotic microfluidic mixers generally involve microelectrodes embedded on the inner wall of microchannel, which increases the difficulty of microchip processing and reduces the functional flexibility inevitably. In this paper, we report the development of a novel microfluidic mixer with straight microchannel based on the light-actuated oscillating electroosmosis in low-frequency sinusoidal AC electric field. The mixing performance is investigated by solving the coupled system of flow field, electric field and concentration field using finite element method. The formation mechanism of a pair of rotating vortices at both edges of the optical virtual electrode and the mixing mechanism of fluid samples are revealed. The effect of several key parameters including external applied potential, electric field frequency and inlet mean velocity on the mixing performance is also explored. The current technique provides a new method for efficient mixing of fluids in modern microfluidic analysis systems, and could potentially promote the comprehensive integration of functions, simplifying structure and reducing manufacturing costs of microchip.

Abstract PS1-04: Utility of rapid- immunohistochemistry using an alternating current electric field for intraoperative diagnosis of sentinel lymph nodes in breast cancer

Abstract Axillary lymph node status and pathological diagnosis of sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) is an important factor that influences management of postoperative therapy. Recent reports indicate that one-step nucleic acid amplification (OSNA) and hematoxylin and eosin (HE)-stained frozen sections are effective for intraoperative diagnosis of SLNs. In the present study, we report a rapid-immunohistochemical staining (R-IHC) method that enables intraoperative detection of SLN metastases within 16 min using an anti-cytokeratin antibody. With this R-IHC system, we apply a high-voltage, low-frequency AC electric field to lymph node sections while they are incubating with the antibodies. The antibodies are mixed within microdroplets and the opportunity for contact between the antibody and antigen is increased. This greatly reduces the time required for the antigen-antibody reaction. This is the report on SLN diagnosis using R-IHC in patients with breast cancer. We prospectively examined 632 dissected SLNs from 260 breast cancer patients who underwent surgery at our institute between July 2014 and March 2020. The dissected SLNs were sectioned and conventionally stained with HE or immunohistochemically labeled with anti-cytokeratin antibody using R-IHC procedures. Intraoperative R-IHC analyses were completed within 16 min, after which diagnoses were made by two pathologists. The total time required for intraoperative diagnosis was about 20 min. In this study, R-IHC detected four metastatic SLNs that were undetected using conventional HE staining (10/52, 19.2%). Compared with subsequent permanent diagnosis, R-IHC offered 98.0% sensitivity, 100% specificity and 99.8% accuracy while those values for intraoperative HE were 80.4%, 100%, 98.4%, respectively (isolated tumor cells were counted as negative). These findings indicate R-IHC is a clinically applicable technique that enables precise, and quick intraoperative detection of micro- and macrometastases in breast cancer. Moreover, R-IHC is cost-effective method: it’s cost is less than a quarter of OSNA and previous report showed that the concentration of primary antibody could be reduced by more than 90% by using R-IHC because AC mixing activated antigen-antibody reaction. Another benefit is its ability to shorten the time needed for microscopic diagnosis itself. When using R-IHC, pathologists are able to readily find metastatic lesions, even within low-power fields (e.g. 40x). This reduces not only the time needed for intraoperative diagnosis, but also the effort necessary to find unclear lesions like small cancer cells (even though it is macrometastasis), micrometastasis, and artifacts of frozen section. This study was conducted at a single institute. Further investigation in a multi-institutional collaborative prospective study will be needed to confirm the utility of this method. But for now, R-IHC appears to be a cost-effective and clinically applicable method for diagnosis of breast cancer and SLN metastasis. Citation Format: Kaori Terata, Hiroshi Nanjo, Eriko Takahashi, Ryuta Nakamura, Yoichi Akagami, Ayuko Yamaguchi, Misako Yatsuyanagi, Chiaki Kudo, Yoshihiro Minamiya. Utility of rapid- immunohistochemistry using an alternating current electric field for intraoperative diagnosis of sentinel lymph nodes in breast cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2020 San Antonio Breast Cancer Virtual Symposium; 2020 Dec 8-11; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2021;81(4 Suppl):Abstract nr PS1-04.

Polymer-induced orientation of nanowires under electric fields

The controlled orientation of metallic wires inside a polymeric medium can enhance desired properties of the composites, such as the electrical conductivity or the optical transmittance. In this work, we study silver nanowire orientation in semidilute suspensions of DNA and find an intriguing effect: under the application of low-frequency AC electric fields with moderate amplitude, the DNA coils can provoke the orientation of the wires in solution. The phenomenon is entirely induced by the polymer, when it is deformed by the application of an electric field. This effect is explained using computer simulations based on excluded-volume interactions. Moreover, we experimentally show that such a behaviour is not exclusive of silver nanowire-DNA suspensions, but rather occurs for other particle-polymer systems. This phenomenon can be taken advantage of to achieve strong orientation of particles otherwise insensitive to electric fields.

Piezoelectric Properties of Pb1-xLax(Zr0.52Ti0.48)1-x/4O3 Thin Films Studied by In Situ X-ray Diffraction.

The piezoelectric properties of lanthanum-modified lead zirconate titanate Pb1−xLax(Zr0.52Ti0.48)1−x/4O3 thin films, with x = 0, 3 and 12 mol% La, were studied by in situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction under direct (DC) and alternating (AC) electric fields, with AC frequencies covering more than four orders of magnitude. The Bragg reflections for thin films with low lanthanum concentration exhibit a double-peak structure, indicating two contributions, whereas thin films with 12% La possess a well-defined Bragg peak with a single component. In addition, built-in electric fields are revealed for low La concentrations, while they are absent for thin films with 12% of La. For static and low frequency AC electric fields, all lanthanum-modified lead zirconate titanate thin films exhibit butterfly loops, whereas linear piezoelectric behavior is found for AC frequencies larger than 1 Hz.

Controlled manipulation of CNTs in glass/epoxy composites with cut-outs using non-uniform electric field

In this work, an effective methodology to incorporate aligned carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in long fiber composites in the presence of geometric discontinuities has been studied. Unidirectional (UD) glass/CNT-epoxy composites containing circular cut-outs were used as representative of a common discontinuity. Multi-walled (MW) CNTs were introduced in the composites via the epoxy matrix and aligned using low-frequency non-uniform AC electric field. This work discusses the methodology to control CNT alignment around the cut-out with the objective of enhancing the stiffness locally. The effectiveness of CNT alignment was assessed indirectly through the mapping of electrical resistance and polarized Raman spectroscopy. A strong correlation was found between the targeted CNT alignment state and the measured resistance values around the cut-out. As a precursor to developing glass/CNT-epoxy hierarchical composites, the response of MW-CNTs in the epoxy resin system was assessed at various input voltage levels in correlation with the weight fraction (wt.%) of CNTs. While a change in electrical resistance by ~3 orders of magnitude was found along the direction of CNT alignment in the hierarchical composites, a change in electrical resistance by ~5 orders of magnitude was observed in the CNT-epoxy composites in comparison with that of the respective control samples.

Control of magnetic and topological orders with a DC electric field

We theoretically propose a new route to control magnetic and topological orders in a broad class of insulating magnets with a DC electric field. We show from the strong-coupling expansion that magnetic exchange interactions along the electric-field direction are generally enhanced in Mott insulators. We demonstrate that several magnetic or topological ordered phases such as quantum spin liquids and Haldane-gap states can be derived if we apply a strong enough DC electric field to typical frustrated or low-dimensional magnets. Our proposal is effective especially for weak Mott insulators and magnets in the vicinity of quantum critical points, and would also be applicable for magnets under low-frequency AC electric fields such as terahertz laser pulses. A similar strategy of controlling exchange interactions can also be utilized in cold atomic systems.

Influence of Chip Materials on Charge Generation in Flowing Solution in Nanobiosensors

Nowadays, nanobiosensors are being intensively developed due to the potential possibilities of their use for early diagnosis of diseases. This interest is enhanced by the fact that, as is known, a pathological process at an early stage is characterized by the appearance of marker proteins at very low (10−15 M and lower) concentrations in blood. Highly-sensitive nanobiosensor systems (including those based on an atomic force microscope, AFM) allows one to detect proteins at such low concentrations. The influence of the charge generated in the analyte solution flowing through the biosensor injector into the measuring cell during measurements is considered to be an important factor conditioning such a high detection sensitivity. In the present study, it was demonstrated that the presence of an AFM chip (made of mica and graphite) near the nozzle of the injector supplying an analyte solution into the measuring cell of the AFM-based fishing system (AFM-based nanobiosensors) causes an increase in charge generation upon the injection of the solution. Moreover, the influence of polymer materials (which are widely used in nanobiosensors) and communications on charge generation in the flow-based section of AFM-based nanobiosensors was studied. A stimulating influence of a low (femtomolar) concentration of proteins on the charge generation in polymeric injectors of flow-based nanobiosensors was demonstrated. Besides, a stimulating influence of an external low-frequency AC electric field on the charge generation in the nanobiosensor injector was found. Measurements were carried out in the temperature range corresponding to the physiological temperature (35 °C).

Ultra-rapid microwave sintering

The results of microwave sintering of powder materials in the regimes with high heating rates and zero hold time at maximum temperature are reported. Microwave processing of compacted samples based on Al2O3, Y2O3, MgAl2O4, and Yb:(LaY)2O3 ceramics was carried out using a 6 kW/24 GHz gyrotron system. The volumetric absorption of intense microwave radiation resulted in a very rapid densification with the duration of the high-temperature stage of sintering on the order of one to several minutes. In the rapid microwave heating regimes the effective high-frequency conductivity of the materials increased sharply at a certain threshold temperature as a result of the overheating instability, also known as thermal runaway. This suggests that the ultra-rapid sintering occurs via grain-boundary softening and formation of transient liquid phases. The indications of the presence of such phases were observed in the microstructure of the sintered samples. The absorbed microwave power density required for the transition to the ultra-rapid sintering is on the order of 10…100 W/cm3 for a broad class of the materials. The obtained results suggest that ultra-rapid microwave sintering proceeds via essentially the same mechanism as the so-called flash sintering that occurs in the presence of dc or low-frequency ac electric field.

A New Method for Immobilization of His-Tagged Proteins with the Application of Low-Frequency AC Electric Field.

Continued advancement of protein array, bioelectrode, and biosensor technologies is necessary to develop methods for higher amount and highly oriented immobilization activity of proteins. In pursuit of these goals, we developed a new immobilization method by combining electrostatic transport and subsequent molecular diffusion of protein molecules. Our developed immobilization method is based on a model that transports proteins toward the substrate surface due to steep concentration gradient generated by low-frequency AC electric field. The immobilization of the maximum amounts can be obtained by the application of the AC voltage of 80 Vpp, 20 Hz both for His-tagged Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) and Discosoma sp. Red Fluorescent Protein (DsRed), used as model proteins. The amounts of the immobilized His-tagged GFP and DsRed were approximately seven-fold higher than that in the absence of the application of low-frequency AC electric field. Furthermore, the positively and negatively charged His-tagged GFP at acidic and alkaline pH were immobilized by applying of low-frequency AC electric field, whereas the non-charged His-tagged GFP at the pH corresponding to its isoelectric point (pI) was not immobilized. Therefore, unless the pH is equal to pI, the immobilization of electrically charged proteins was strongly enhanced through electrostatic transport and subsequent molecular diffusion.

Low-frequency AC electric field induced thermoacoustic oscillation of a premixed stagnation flame

We present a novel phenomenon of low-frequency AC electric field induced thermoacoustic oscillations by employing a wall-jet premixed stagnation flame configuration. A high speed camera and a microphone are used to record the instantaneous flame topographies and the acoustic oscillations, respectively. We find that, under manipulations of the AC electric field, the acoustic oscillation occurs after the flame transits from a ‘disc’ mode to an ‘envelope’ mode. The observed correlation between the changing rates of the flame surface area and the pressure fluctuations in the time domain indicates a significant contribution from the unsteady heat release to the acoustic oscillation; meanwhile, the other possible mechanism, i.e. the direct impact of oscillating electric body force on the generated pressure wave, can be ruled out based on a theoretical analysis of a pressure wave equation. The oscillating behaviors of the flame front show that the electric field drives the movement of the flame cusp with a large stretch rate. Assessment of the current density distribution of the weakly-ionized flame plasma is conducted by non-dimensionalizing the convective–diffusive–reactive equation, estimating the electric conductivity, and solving Ohm's Law. This simplified model divulges that the non-uniform current density induces large perturbations at the corner positions of the flame front. The unsteady flame fronts strongly influence the current response of the flame, which indicates a self-looping process among the flame current, the electric body force and the flame reaction rate.

Electrical Characteristics, Electrode Sheath and Contamination Layer Behavior of a Meso-Scale Premixed Methane-Air Flame Under AC/DC Electric Fields**supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51376021), and the Fundamental Research Fund for Major Universities (No. 2013JBM079)

Electrical characteristics of a nozzle-attached meso-scale premixed methane-air flame under low-frequency AC (0-4300 V, 0-500 Hz) and DC (0-3300 V) electric fields were studied. I-V curves were measured under different experimental conditions to estimate the magnitude of the total current 100-102 μA, the electron density 1015-1016 m−3 and further the power dissipation ≤ 0.7 W in the reaction zone. At the same time, the meso-scale premixed flame conductivity 10−4-10−3 Ω−1·m−1 as a function of voltage and frequency was experimentally obtained and was believed to represent a useful order-of magnitude estimate. Moreover, the influence of the collision sheath relating to Debye length (31–98 μm) and the contamination layer of an active electrode on measurements was discussed, based on the combination of simulation and theoretical analysis. As a result, the electrode sheath dimension was evaluated to less than 0.5 mm, which indicated a complex effect of the collision sheath on the current measurements. The surface contamination effect of an active electrode was further analyzed using the SEM imaging method, which showed elements immigration during the contamination layer formation process.

A novel high-sensitivity electrostatic biased electric field sensor

In this paper, an electric field sensor (EFS) with high sensitivity is proposed for low-frequency weak-strength ac electric field (E-field) measurements. The EFS is based on a piezoelectric cantilever biased by a strong electrostatic field. The electrostatic bias can enhance the electric field force of a weak ac E-field, thus the cantilever can oscillate in a weak ac E-field and the device sensitivity improves. Theoretical analyses have been established and suggest that a stronger strength of electrostatic field bias would produce a higher sensitivity improvement. In the experiment, a demonstrated sensor consisting of a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) piezoelectric cantilever and a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) electret was built and tested. Instead of extra voltage sources, the PTFE electret was charged to provide the electrostatic field, allowing the EFS a low energy consumption and a simple electric circuit design. The experiment results show good agreement with the simulation. The sensitivity of the cantilever E-field sensor reached 0.84 mV (kV/m)−1 when the surface potential of the electret was −770 V.

Ionization induced by strong electromagnetic field in low dimensional systems bound by short range forces

Ionization processes for a two dimensional quantum dot subjected to combined electrostatic and alternating electric fields of the same direction are studied using quantum mechanical methods. We derive analytical equations for the ionization probability in dependence on characteristic parameters of the system for both extreme cases of a constant electric field and of a linearly polarized electromagnetic wave. The ionization probabilities for a superposition of dc and low frequency ac electric fields of the same direction are calculated. The impulse distribution of ionization probability for a system bound by short range forces is found for a superposition of constant and alternating fields. The total probability for this process per unit of time is derived within exponential accuracy. For the first time the influence of alternating electric field on electron tunneling probability induced by an electrostatic field is studied taking into account the pre-exponential term.