ROTATIONAL SEPARATION OF NON-SPHERICAL PARTICLES USING NOVEL I-SHAPED PILLAR ARRAYS

Abstract

This thesis studies the use of deterministic lateral displacement (DLD) in a microfluidic device to separate non-spherical biological particles. DLD precisely separates particle based on a calculated critical separation diameter from a pillar gradient array. The current model is based on a spherical particle. To enable separation of non-spherical biological particles, a novel I-shape DLD pillar was developed to induce rotational movements in non-spherical RBC which resulted in enhanced and distinct separation of blood cells by increasing the hydrodynamic radius. The method was tested on bacteria samples were found to separate and concentrate the samples effectively. The I-shape pillar comprise of protrusions to induce rotation and groove to accommodate the rotating particle. By changing the geometry and parameters of protrusions and groove, mechanistic study of novel pillar shapes were performed to comprehend how the shape of pillar influence the separation of non-spherical particle.