On-chip concentration of microorganisms by free flow electrophoresis

AbstractIn this contribution we present a microfluidic chip for the continuous concentration of microorganisms by means of free flow electrophoresis (FFE). The simple chip design consists of a 140μm high and 3mm wide channel with platinum electrodes on the top and bottom glass. Microorganisms exhibit a negative surface charge due to ionized groups and, therefore, experience a force in the electric field perpendicular to the flow. We have evaluated the function of the proposed system by capturing S. cerevisiae cells from a continuous flow at 14μl/min. A concentration factor of 27.7±3.4 was achieved within 20min