Nanoparticle Capture Using Ultrasonic Actuation

Nanoparticles, both naturally occurring and synthetic, play an important part in new and emerging medication. In this work, we seek a way to capture and enrich such particles, in a method we believe can be up-scaled in the future. We demonstrate and characterize the collection of nanoparticles from a mechanically activated packed bed. A microfluidic channel is blocked by a slug of microparticles, held by an array of pillars. When these particles are ultrasonically vibrated near a resonant frequency nanoparticle are attracted to them. The result is a nanoparticle sieve.