Self-powered AC electrokinetic microfluidic system based on triboelectric nanogenerator

The AC electrokinetic technology, such as AC electroosmosis, induced-charged electroosmosis, dielectrophoresis, etc., can precisely manipulate trace fluids and has been widely used in lab on a chip. However, the power supplies used in AC electrokinetic experiments are mostly function generators or other large-scare instruments, which is an obstacle to portability. Encouragingly, triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) with the characteristics of portable, green, and simple structure is a potential opportunity for AC electrokinetic microfluidic operation. We have designed a self-powered AC electrokinetic microfluidic system based on vertical contact-separation mode TENG for the first time. The TENG, as a power supply, costs only 2 cents and maintains excellent output performance after millions of working cycles. Through the combination of TENG and microfluidic chip, this system successfully realizes AC electroosmotic flow and induced-charged electroosmotic flow in the microchannel and completes the effective mixing of two fluids at low frequencies (<10 Hz). Furthermore, we have achieved precise control of particle behavior, including focusing, deflection, and separation under manual operation. Therefore, the self-powered AC electrokinetic microfluidic system designed in this work not only expands the application fields of TENG but also provides a new power solution for AC electrokinetic microfluidic operation. This system is expected to get rid of the need for large-scale power supply in traditional methods and has broad application prospects in the fields of portable detection, micro-reaction, and micro-bioanalysis.