Fig. 5: Overcoming unwanted droplet splitting using NOVAsort.

A Schematic of droplet splitting caused by DEP force pulling a droplet from the side of the sorting channel perpendicular to the Stokes force direction in the linear sorter. B Schematic showing that the IDE-based NOVAsort can solve the droplet splitting problem by placing a sorting electrode underneath the droplet as guide rails. Frame-by-frame micrographs comparing the sorting of a 110 µm diameter droplet under electric field generated by the (C) 3D liquid metal electrode and (D) surface IDE. The droplet can be seen torn apart in the case of the linear sorter (C), while the droplet was intact when using the IDE sorter (D). Sorting trajectory of droplets under no voltage, minimum sorting voltage, and threefold of the minimum sorting voltage in the case of the linear sorter (E) and NOVAsort (F); n = 12 repeats. G Impact of sorting throughput on minimum operational voltage required (black: linear sorter; red: NOVAsort) and circularity (blue curves) of both sorting methods (50 Hz). Circularity = 0 indicates tearing up of droplets. Data are presented as mean values of at least 11 separate measurements ± SD (n = 11). A, B created with BioRender.com, released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International license.