Nanoelectrode arrays for on-chip manipulation of biomolecules in aqueous solutions

Dielectrophoresis is a convenient method for manipulation of dielectric substances in liquid. However, for substances at the nanoscale, the turbulence due to electro-osmosis flow will strongly disturb the movement of the substances. In this work, devices based on dielectrophoresis using nanoelectrode arrays have been investigated to reduce the electro-osmosis flow. Nanoscaled organic substances and biomolecules in aqueous solution, for example, polystyrene beads, bovine serum albumin and antibody molecules, were successfully trapped between the nanoelectrodes. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that the required applied voltage can be reduced by a factor of five in comparison with those using microelectrodes.