Limitations of Au Particle Nanoassembly Using Dielectrophoretic Force—A Parametric Experimental and Theoretical Study

When a gold colloidal suspension is subjected to ac electric field, ldquogold pearl chainsrdquo will form due to the dielectrophoretic (DEP) force. Our latest experiments show that the formation rate of gold pearl chains, which tends to zero at high and low frequency limits and has a maximum at a narrow mid range of frequency, is dependent on the applied field frequency. This letter analyzes the frequency-dependent DEP manipulation of gold colloid suspensions using the protoplast model. Simulated results show that the relationship curve between the frequency of applied field and the velocity of gold colloids motion due to DEP agrees with our experimental observations. In addition, the orders of magnitude of the velocity due to various effects in our experimental system, such as DEP force, Brownian motion, gravity, and fluid flows induced by electric field, were also estimated. The result implies that the DEP-based manipulation of less than 2 nm gold colloids is extremely difficult to be controlled.