Rapid Electrokinetic Patterning

Rapid electrokinetic patterning (REP) is a noncontact manipulation technique that concentrates and manipulates colloidal particles on an electrode surface through the simultaneous application of a uniform AC electric field and a non-uniform laser illumination. This technique is especially useful in creating lab-on-a-chip applications or miniature instruments that perform measurements that would normally require large laboratory equipment. In a recent application, reserchers utilized this method to collect microscopic bacteria and fungi by creating tiny centrifuge-like whirlpools to seperate these from particles by size.