Liquid-based stationary phase for deterministic lateral displacement separation in microfluidics

Abstract

Deterministic lateral displacement (DLD) is a promising separation scheme in microfluidic systems. In traditional DLD, a periodic array of solid posts induces the separative migration of suspended particles moving through the system. Here, we present a radical departure from traditional DLD systems and use an array of anchored liquid-bridges as the stationary phase in the DLD device. The liquid-bridges are created between two parallel plates and anchored to the bottom one by cylindrical wells. We show that the non-linear particle dynamics observed in traditional DLD systems is also present in the anchored-liquid case, enabling analogous size-based separation of suspended particles. The use of liquid-bridges as the stationary phase presents additional possibilities in separation technologies, potentially eliminating or significantly reducing clogging, enabling renewable and/or reconfigurable systems, allowing a different set of fabrication methods and providing alternative ways to separate particles based on their interaction with liquid–liquid interfaces. Some of these advantages could also extend to filtration methods based on similar liquid-based stationary phases.