Absolute negative particle mobility

Alexandra Ros (), Ralf Eichhorn, Jan Regtmeier, Thanh Tu Duong, Peter Reimann and Dario Anselmetti
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Alexandra Ros: Experimental Biophysics & Applied Nanosciences, Bielefeld University
Ralf Eichhorn: Condensed Matter Theory, Bielefeld University
Jan Regtmeier: Experimental Biophysics & Applied Nanosciences, Bielefeld University
Thanh Tu Duong: Experimental Biophysics & Applied Nanosciences, Bielefeld University
Peter Reimann: Condensed Matter Theory, Bielefeld University
Dario Anselmetti: Experimental Biophysics & Applied Nanosciences, Bielefeld University

Nature, 2005, vol. 436, issue 7053, 928-928

Abstract: Abstract Noise effects in technological applications, far from being a nuisance, can be exploited with advantage — for example, unavoidable thermal fluctuations have found application in the transport and sorting of colloidal particles1,2,3 and biomolecules4,5,6. Here we use a microfluidic system to demonstrate a paradoxical migration mechanism in which particles always move in a direction opposite to the net acting force (‘absolute negative mobility’) as a result of an interplay between thermal noise, a periodic and symmetric microstructure, and a biased alternating-current electric field. This counterintuitive phenomenon could be used for bioanalytical purposes, for example in the separation and fractionation of colloids, biological molecules and cells.

Date: 2005
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DOI: 10.1038/436928a

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