Design and Evaluation of a Millifluidic Insulator-Based Dielectrophoresis (DEP) Retention Device to Separate Bacteria from Tap Water
Department of Human Nutrition, Food, and Animal Sciences, University of Hawaii, 1955 East–West Road, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA
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Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
Co-first authors, these authors contributed equally to this work.
Academic Editors: Qilin Wang, Dongbo Wang, Yingqun Ma, Jing Sun and Li Gao
Water 2021, 13(12), 1678; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13121678
Received: 26 May 2021
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Revised: 11 June 2021
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Accepted: 14 June 2021
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Published: 17 June 2021
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Technologies for Wastewater and Water Treatment)
Water is a basic necessity critical to the survival of all living beings. However, many people around the world do not have consistent access to uncontaminated drinking water. Traditional water treatment methods, such as filtration and disinfection, require physical or chemical disinfectants and are prone to fouling. Dielectrophoresis (DEP) enables a system whereby polarized bioparticles exhibit lateral movement under the influence of applied, non-uniform electric fields. A single-stage, continuous flow, millimeter-sized DEP device was designed and fabricated to remove Escherichia coli K12 from contaminated tap water. Glass beads were used to alter the electric field distribution and create zones of high electric field to trap bacterial cells. The effect of varied voltages, flow rates and bead sizes on the removal efficiency was studied. The highest removal efficiency of E. coli K12 was 99.9%, with the device set at 60 V, a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min and a 200 µm bead size. Higher applied voltages, slower flow rates, and smaller bead sizes led to an increased reduction in bacteria. An optimized macro-scale system—with multiple stages of DEP—could be suitable for commercial use and would be an effective method of removing pathogens from polluted tap water.
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Keywords:
glass beads; DEP; water treatment; Escherichia coli; electric field
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MDPI and ACS Style
Jun, S.; Chun, C.; Ho, K.; Li, Y. Design and Evaluation of a Millifluidic Insulator-Based Dielectrophoresis (DEP) Retention Device to Separate Bacteria from Tap Water. Water 2021, 13, 1678. https://doi.org/10.3390/w13121678
AMA Style
Jun S, Chun C, Ho K, Li Y. Design and Evaluation of a Millifluidic Insulator-Based Dielectrophoresis (DEP) Retention Device to Separate Bacteria from Tap Water. Water. 2021; 13(12):1678. https://doi.org/10.3390/w13121678
Chicago/Turabian StyleJun, Shawn, Cherisse Chun, Kacie Ho, and Yong Li. 2021. "Design and Evaluation of a Millifluidic Insulator-Based Dielectrophoresis (DEP) Retention Device to Separate Bacteria from Tap Water" Water 13, no. 12: 1678. https://doi.org/10.3390/w13121678
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