Publication Date:
2017-10-05
Description:
Sensors, Vol. 17, Pages 2272: Automated Dielectrophoretic Tweezers-Based Force Spectroscopy System in a Microfluidic Device Sensors doi: 10.3390/s17102272 Authors: Min Kim Jeongjick Lee Kihwan Nam In Park Myeonggu Son Hyunchul Ko Sangyoup Lee Dae Yoon Woo-Jin Chang Sei Lee Young Yoon Sang Lee We reported an automated dielectrophoretic (DEP) tweezers-based force spectroscopy system to examine intermolecular weak binding interactions, which consists of three components: (1) interdigitated electrodes and micro-sized polystyrene particles used as DEP tweezers and probes inside a microfluidic device, along with an arbitrary function generator connected to a high voltage amplifier; (2) microscopy hooked up to a high-speed charge coupled device (CCD) camera with an image acquisition device; and (3) a computer aid control system based on the LabVIEW program. Using this automated system, we verified the measurement reliability by measuring intermolecular weak binding interactions, such as hydrogen bonds and Van der Waals interactions. In addition, we also observed the linearity of the force loading rates, which is applied to the probes by the DEP tweezers, by varying the number of voltage increment steps and thus affecting the linearity of the force loading rates. This system provides a simple and low-cost platform to investigate intermolecular weak binding interactions.
Electronic ISSN:
1424-8220
Topics:
Chemistry and Pharmacology
,
Electrical Engineering, Measurement and Control Technology
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