Controlled Levitation of Colloids through Direct Current Electric Fields

We report the controlled levitation of surface-modified colloids in direct current (dc) electric fields at distances as far as 75 μm from an electrode surface. Instead of experiencing electrophoretic deposition, colloids modified through metallic deposition or the covalent bonding of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) undergo migration and focusing that results in levitation at these large distances. The levitation is a sensitive function of the surface chemistry and magnitude of the field, thus providing the means to achieve control over the levitation height. Experiments with particles of different surface charge show that levitation occurs only when the absolute zeta potential is below a threshold value. An electrodiffusiophoretic mechanism is proposed to explain the observed large-scale levitation.