Bilkent University
Mechanical Engineering Department
TUBITAK, 3501 - National Young Researchers Career Development Program (CAREER) (112M102)
Start Date: November 15th, 2012
Completion Date: January 15th, 2015
The objective of this project is to develop a lab-on-a-chip (LOC) device which can manipulate microparticles using dielectrophoretic (DEP) and acoustic methods. This device enables integrated particle wash, particle separation and particle concentration. The non-uniform electrical field inside the device will be generated by means of electrodes which are embedded inside the microchannel, the acoustic force on the other hand will be generated with piezoelectric elements embedded in the device. Particle separation will be achieved with the DEP force, and particle wash and particle concentration will be achieved with the acoustic force. The device will be designed to have stable, robust and highly repeatable manufacturability. For biological tests the device needs to be disposable, therefore the device will be aimed to have a low manufacturing cost. Moreover, high repeatability of the processes that will be run on the device and a high performance will be the goal of the project. For the fabrication of the LOC device both lithography-based micro/nanofabrication techniques and miniature-machining based fabrication techniques will be utilized.