Using a Digital Microfluidic System to Evaluate the Stretch Length of a Droplet with a L-DEP and Varied Parameters

Abstract

Digital microfluidics has become intensively explored as an effective method for liquid handling in lab-on-a-chip (LOC) systems. Liquid dielectrophoresis (L-DEP) has many advantages and exciting prospects in driving droplets. To fully realize the potential benefits of this technique, one must know the droplet volume accurately for its distribution and manipulation. Here we present an investigation of the tensile length of a droplet subjected to a L-DEP force with varied parameters to achieve precise control of the volume of a droplet. Liquid propylene carbonate served as a driving liquid in the L-DEP experiment. The chip was divided into two parts: an electrode of width fixed at 0.1 mm and a total width fixed at 1 mm. Each had a variation of six electrode spacings. The experimental results showed that the stretching length decreased with decreasing electrode width, but the stretching length did not vary with an increased spacing of the electrode. When the two electrodes were activated, the length decreased because of an increase in electrode spacing. The theory was based on the force balance on a droplet that involved the force generated by the electric field, friction force, and capillary force. The theory was improved according to the experimental results. To verify the theoretical improvement through the results, we designed a three-electrode chip for experiments. The results proved that the theory is consistent with the results of the experiments, so that the length of a droplet stretched with L-DEP and its volume can be calculated.