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Nanoscale

A new peer reviewed journal publishing experimental and theoretical work across the breadth of nanoscience and nanotechnology



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Paper

Nanoscale, 2009, 1, 133 - 137, DOI: 10.1039/b9nr00033j

A simple, optically induced electrokinetic method to concentrate and pattern nanoparticles

Stuart J. Williams, Aloke Kumar, Nicolas G. Green and Steven T. Wereley

We demonstrate an optically induced electrokinetic technique that continuously concentrates nanoparticles on the surface of a parallel plate electrode that is biased with an AC signal. A highly focused beam of near-infrared light (1064 nm) was applied, inducing an electrothermal microfluidic vortex that carried nanoparticles to its center where they were accumulated. This technique was demonstrated with 49 nm and 100 nm fluorescent polystyrene particles and characterized as a function of applied AC frequency and voltage. With this technique the location and shape of colloidal concentration was reconfigured by controlling the optical landscape, yielding dynamic control of the aggregation. Colloidal concentration was demonstrated with a plain parallel plate electrode configuration without the need of photoconductive materials or complex microfabrication procedures.

Graphical abstract image for this article (ID: b9nr00033j)