Device and method for controlling charged particles in fluid

A device for controlling charged particles in a fluid, comprising:

• a microfluidic channel;
• at least three electrodes;
• a plurality of conductor leads;
• and
• at least two drive power supplies;
• wherein the microfluidic channel is provided with a first port and a second port;
• the first port and the second port are configured to allow the fluid to flow from the first port towards the second port;
• and the fluid contains the charged particles;
• each of the at least three electrodes is in electrical contact with the fluid to form a pseudo-capacitance, a double-layer capacitance or a combination thereof at a fluid-electrode interface;
• the at least three electrodes are arranged in parallel on the same side or opposite sides of the microfluidic channel;
• and an arrangement direction of the at least three electrodes is neither parallel nor perpendicular to a flow direction of the fluid;
• each of the at least two drive power supplies is configured to periodically output a voltage excitation or a current excitation;
• the voltage excitation or the current excitation is configured to dynamically vary within a single output cycle;
• and each of the at least two drive power supplies is connected to at least one electrode among the at least three electrodes via the at least one conductor lead among the plurality of conductor leads;
• and
• each of the at least three electrodes is configured to continuously undergo alternating cycles of charging and discharging to form a traveling-wave electric field with a periodically-varying amplitude in the microfluidic channel;
• the traveling-wave electric field is configured to move at a preset traveling-wave propagation speed, and apply a force to the charged particles to generate a migration velocity perpendicular to the flow direction of the fluid, wherein the migration velocity is correlated with a charge-to-mass ratio of the charged particles;
• and a maximum charge capacity of each of the at least three electrodes is greater than a total amount of charges transferred thereon during a single charging or discharging process.