MEMS for manipulation and mechanical testing of microparticles suspended in fluids

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The proposed research program is in the area known as Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS). The devices studied are very flat and thin (only two micrometers) and they are smaller than one square millimeter; the mechanisms' features are measured in micrometers. The objects of the research are microparticles suspended in liquids and the goal is to manipulate and mechanically test them. The manipulation of particles suspended in liquids includes, transportation, stream forming, stream separation, sorting, changing direction of transport, and collection in one place. The manipulation is executed by oscillating electric fields produced by submerged arrays of electrodes. The mechanical testing includes: pulling apart, squeezing, bursting, shearing and measuring deformation and forces. The testing is performed by mechanical gripping devices equipped with jaws. The idea is to apply the developed devices in such fields as food, brewing, and pharmaceutical industries and research in palaeoecology, archaeology, and food science. The envisioned applications will dramatically increase existing testing efficiencies in these areas. In particular testing such particles as: - Yeast cells used in brewing and food industry; where the mechanical properties of yeast cells is used to monitor the effectiveness of beer and bread production. - Micro capsules from gelatin containing droplets of liquids used in food and pharmaceutical industry; where the mechanical properties of the gelatin micro capsules are directly related to the protection of the encapsulated active compounds. - Phytoliths i.e. plant silica bodies that are collected from soils and researched in palaeoecology, archaeology and food science. Phytoliths, the silica deposits in plant cells, are tiny, mineralized, three-dimensional, solid copies of the cell bodies.