Electrokinetics in micro devices for biotechnology applications

Electrokinetics is the study of the motion of bulk fluids or selected particles embedded in fluids when they are subjected to electric fields. With the recent developments in microfabrication, electrokinetics provides effective manipulation techniques in the micro and nano domains, which matches the length scale of various biological objects. The ability to manipulate objects down to molecular levels opens new avenues to exploit biological science and technology. Understanding of the fundamental characteristics and limitations of the forces becomes a crucial issue for successful applications of these force fields. In this paper, we review and examine the range of influence for electrokinetically manipulated biological objects in microdevices, which can lead to interesting applications in biotechnology.