Electrokinetic deterministic lateral displacement for fractionation of vesicles and nano-particles

Abstract

We describe fractionation of sub-micron vesicles and particles suspended in high conductivity electrolytes using an electrokinetically biased Deterministic Lateral Displacement (DLD) device. An optimised, asymmetric array of micron-sized pillars and gaps, with an AC electric field applied orthogonal to the fluid flow gives an approximately ten-fold reduction in the intrinsic critical diameter (D_c) of the device. The asymmetry in the device maximises the throughput. Fractionation of populations of 100 nm and 400 nm extruded vesicles is achieved in 690 mS m⁻¹ KCl, and 100 nm, 200 nm and 500 nm polystyrene particles in 105 mS m⁻¹ KCl. The electrokinetically biased DLD may provide solutions for simple and rapid isolation of extracellular vesicles.