Dielectrophoresis of reverse phase emulsions

Reverse miniemulsions, emulsions of droplets of size 200 nm-1 mu m of a polar liquid dispersed in an apolar continuous liquid phase, exhibit strong electrokinetic responses in low-frequency electric fields. The electrokinetic behaviour of a reverse miniemulsion, previously developed for use as electronic paper, has been investigated under static and flow conditions, in uniform and non-uniform electric fields. Results reveal that when using frequencies lower than 10Hz strong aggregation of the droplets occurs. In uniform electric fields, under static conditions, droplets reversibly aggregate into honeycomb-like or irregular aggregates. Under flow conditions, droplets aggregate into approximately equidistant streams. In non-uniform electric fields the droplets reversibly aggregate in high-field regions, and can be guided along regions of high field strength in a flow. The potential of the technique for the formation of structured materials is discussed.