LANGMUIR
·
2021
·
IF 3.882
Dege Li,Yi Cao,Bingfang Huang,Molong Han,Xinlei Wu,Qiang Sun,Chao Zheng,Lilong Zhao,Chi Ma,Hui Jin,Xiaolong Wang,Yonghong Liu,Yanzhen Zhang
The precise and effective generation of micron-sized droplets is one of the most common and important issues for droplet-based microfluidics. Active droplet generation makes use of additional energy input in promoting interfacial instabilities for droplet generation. Here, we report a new technique for the active generation of femtoliter droplets in microfluidic systems using confined interfacial vibration (CIV). The CIV is formed at the orifice of a traditional inkjet nozzle first by pushing the liquid out and then pulling it back. Droplets are pinched off during the withdrawal process, and this is different from the current active droplet generation techniques, which only monodirectionally push the liquid out. Droplets with radius ranging from ca. 1 to 28 μm can be actively generated by CIV at an orifice with radius 30 μm, distinguishing from conventional active generation techniques in which the droplets are always comparable or slightly bigger than the orifice. Experimental results showed that the droplet volume can be customized by controlling the intensity of the CIV. The inherent digital nature of the inkjet technique enables easy and precise regulating of the droplet volume, making it seamlessly compatible with the digital microfluidic systems.
研究领域:
生物工程
·
化学工程
·
物理学
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
PubMed
高影响因子
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION
·
2023
·
IF 3
Si-Ke Chen,Xiao-Jie Ju,Jie Wei,Wei Wang,Liang-Yin Chu
Previous educational articles on microfluidic technology mainly focused on continuous microfluidics, so we set up an undergraduate laboratory experiment to introduce droplet microfluidics to students. Students can understand the concept of microfluidic channels and the principles of droplet microfluidics, prepare polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) devices and split-flow strategy, explore the controllable preparation and monodispersity of chitosan (CS) microspheres, and gain a more comprehensive understanding of microfluidic technology. The experiment has the advantages of easy operation and a short cycle, and it is suitable as an undergraduate experiment.
研究领域:
生物工程
·
材料科学
·
化学工程
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
高影响因子
BIOSENSORS & BIOELECTRONICS
·
2022
·
IF 12.545
Chaozhan Chen,Bin Ran,Bo Liu,Xiaoxuan Liu,Ya Liu,Minbo Lan,Richard Manasseh,Yonggang Zhu
Quantifying biomarkers at the early stage of the disease is challenging due to the low abundance of biomarkers in the sample and the lack of sensitive techniques. This article reports the development of a novel microfluidic electrochemical biosensing platform to address this challenge. The electrochemical sensing is achieved by utilizing a micropillar array electrode (μAE) coated with 3D bimetallic Pt–Pd nanotrees to enhance the sensitivity. A bubble-based acoustic microstreaming technique is integrated with the device to increase the contact of analyte molecules with the surface of electrodes to further enhance the electrochemical performance. The current density of Pt–Pd NTs/μAE with acoustic microstreaming is nearly 22 times that of the bare planar electrode in potassium ferrocyanide solution. The developed biosensor has demonstrated excellent sensing performance. For hydrogen peroxide detection, both the Pt–Pd NTs/μAE and acoustic microstreaming contribute to the sensitivity enhancement. The current density of the Pt–Pd NTs/μAE is approximatively 28 times that of the bare μAE. With acoustic microstreaming, this enhancement is further increased by nearly 1.6 times. The platform has a linear detection range of 5–1000 μM with a LOD of 1.8 μM toward hydrogen peroxide detection, while for sarcosine detection, the linear range is between 5 and 100 μM and LOD is 2.2 μM, respectively. Furthermore, the sarcosine biosensing shows a high sensitivity of 667 μA mM −1 ∙cm −2 . Such a sensing platform has the potential as a portable device for high sensitivity detection of biomarkers.
研究领域:
生物医学工程
·
分析化学
·
纳米技术
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产品关联
DOI
PubMed
高影响因子
ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS
·
2024
·
IF 18.5
Qian Zhou,Kaiyi Dong,Meng Wei,Bingfang He,Bingbing Gao
Microfluidic chips play crucial roles while lack satisfactory controllability and comprehensive functionality. Inspired by biological systems, this study proposes a method utilizing rolling microneedles (RMNs) to generate muti-structured templates, realizing photonic crystal membrane (PC) based meta microfluidic microneedle chip (MMM) for efficient wound management. This approach offers advantages in terms of speed and cost-effectiveness, achieving dual-sided permeation and patterned design by directly RMNs at desired locations, serving as both template tools for microneedle fabrication. The integration of RMNs with a PC membrane results in the design of 3D multilayer microfluidic channels, effectively addressing issues related to spontaneous fluid flow. As fluid reaches the PC membrane, it generates distinctive structural colors and exhibits fluorescence enhancement, enabling the monitoring of inflammatory factors in mouse wounds and facilitating efficient wound management. In summary, this preparation method involving RMNs paves the way for the design and fluid control of microfluidic chips. This bioinspired patch holds significant potential not only for wound management but also for areas such as clinical drug delivery and point-of-care testing (POCT).
研究领域:
生物医学工程
·
微纳米技术
·
药物递送
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
高影响因子
Small
·
2023
·Vol. 19
·期 34
·2300047
·
IF 13.3
Mingzhu Xie,Ziheng Zhan,Chengqi Zhang,Wanqing Xu,Ce Zhang,Yongping Chen,Zhichao Dong,Zhaolong Wang
Numerous structures have been functionally optimized for directional liquid transport in nature. Inspired by lush trees’ xylem that enable liquid directional transportation from rhizomes to the tip of trees, a new kind of programmable microfluidic porous matrices using projection micro-stereolithography (P µ SL) based 3D printing technique is fabricated. Structural matrices with internal superhydrophilicity and external hydrophobicity are assembled for ultra-fast liquid rising enabled by capillary force. Moreover, the unidirectional microfluidic performance of the bionic porous matrices can be theoretically optimized by adjusting its geometric parameters. Most significantly, the successive programmable flow of liquid in a preferred direction inside the bionic porous matrices with tailored wettability is achieved, validating by a precisely printed liquid displayer and a microfluidic logic chip. The programmable and functional microfluidic matrices promise applications of patterned liquid flow, displayer, logic chip, cell screening, gas–liquid separation, and so on.
研究领域:
材料科学
·
微流控技术
·
生物医学工程
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
PubMed
高影响因子
LAB ON A CHIP
·
2022
·Vol. 22
·期 24
·4962-4973
·
IF 7.517
Chuan-Fu Deng,Yao-Yao Su,Shi-Hao Yang,Qing-Rong Jiang,Rui Xie,Xiao-Jie Ju,Zhuang Liu,Da-Wei Pan,Wei Wang,Liang-Yin Chu
Controllable mass production of monodisperse droplets plays a key role in numerous fields ranging from scientific research to industrial application. Microfluidic ladder networks show great potential in mass production of monodisperse droplets, but their design with uniform microflow distribution remains challenging due to the lack of a rational design strategy. Here an effective design strategy based on backstepping microflow analysis (BMA) is proposed for the rational development of microfluidic ladder networks for mass production of controllable monodisperse microdroplets. The performance of our BMA rule for rational microfluidic ladder network design is demonstrated by using an existing analogism-derived rule that is widely used for the design of microfluidic ladder networks as the control group. The microfluidic ladder network designed by the BMA rule shows a more uniform flow distribution in each branch microchannel than that designed by the existing rule, as confirmed by single-phase flow simulation. Meanwhile, the microfluidic ladder network designed by the BMA rule allows mass production of droplets with higher size monodispersity in a wider window of flow rates and mass production of polymeric microspheres from such highly monodisperse droplet templates. The proposed BMA rule provides new insights into the microflow distribution behaviors in microfluidic ladder networks based on backstepping microflow analysis and provides a rational guideline for the efficient development of microfluidic ladder networks with uniform flow distribution for mass production of highly monodisperse droplets. Moreover, the BMA method provides a general analysis strategy for microfluidic networks with parallel multiple microchannels for rational scale-up.
研究领域:
微流控技术
·
化学工程
·
材料科学
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
PubMed
高影响因子
Microsystems & Nanoengineering
·
2023
·Vol. 9
·期 1
·1-11
·
IF 7.9
Huang Shaoqi,Wu Jiandong,Zheng Lulu,Long Yan,Chen Junyi,Li Jianlang,Dai Bo,Lin Francis,Zhuang Songlin,Zhang Dawei
Reconfigurable modular microfluidics presents an opportunity for flexibly constructing prototypes of advanced microfluidic systems. Nevertheless, the strategy of directly integrating modules cannot easily fulfill the requirements of common applications, e.g., the incorporation of materials with biochemical compatibility and optical transparency and the execution of small batch production of disposable chips for laboratory trials and initial tests. Here, we propose a manufacturing scheme inspired by the movable type printing technique to realize 3D free-assembly modular microfluidics. Double-layer 3D microfluidic structures can be produced by replicating the assembled molds. A library of modularized molds is presented for flow control, droplet generation and manipulation and cell trapping and coculture. In addition, a variety of modularized attachments, including valves, light sources and microscopic cameras, have been developed with the capability to be mounted onto chips on demand. Microfluidic systems, including those for concentration gradient generation, droplet-based microfluidics, cell trapping and drug screening, are demonstrated. This scheme enables rapid prototyping of microfluidic systems and construction of on-chip research platforms, with the intent of achieving high efficiency of proof-of-concept tests and small batch manufacturing.
研究领域:
生物工程
·
微流控技术
·
细胞生物学
·
药物筛选
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
PubMed
高影响因子
Micromachines
·
2022
·Vol. 13
·期 4
·498
·
IF 3.523
Jianchen Cai,Jiaxi Jiang,Jinyun Jiang,Yin Tao,Xiang Gao,Meiya Ding,Yiqiang Fan
This study proposed a fabrication method for thin, film-based, transparent, and flexible digital microfluidic devices. A series of characterizations were also conducted with the fabricated digital microfluidic devices. For the device fabrication, the electrodes were patterned by laser ablation of 220 nm-thick indium tin oxide (ITO) layer on a 175 μm-thick polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate. The electrodes were insulated with a layer of 12 μm-thick polyethylene (PE) film as the dielectric layer, and finally, a surface treatment was conducted on PE film in order to enhance the hydrophobicity. The whole digital microfluidic device has a total thickness of less than 200 μm and is nearly transparent in the visible range. The droplet manipulation with the proposed digital microfluidic device was also achieved. In addition, a series of characterization studies were conducted as follows: the contact angles under different driving voltages, the leakage current density across the patterned electrodes, and the minimum driving voltage with different control algorithms and droplet volume were measured and discussed. The UV–VIS spectrum of the proposed digital microfluidic devices was also provided in order to verify the transparency of the fabricated device. Compared with conventional methods for the fabrication of digital microfluidic devices, which usually have opaque metal/carbon electrodes, the proposed transparent and flexible digital microfluidics could have significant advantages for the observation of the droplets on the digital microfluidic device, especially for colorimetric analysis using the digital microfluidic approach.Keywords:digital microfluidics;lab-on-a-chip;ITO;PET
研究领域:
微流控技术
·
生物医学工程
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产品关联
DOI
PubMed
高影响因子
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
·
2025
·
IF 8.2
Jiang Zhai,Su-Yu Liu,Qing Li,Chang Liu,Xiao-Qing Yu,Guo-Xing Li,Su Chen
3D printing efficiency, as a key indicator of additive manufacturing technology, directly affects its competitiveness in rapid prototyping, small batch production, and even large-scale industrial applications. Compared with traditional manufacturing methods, the high efficiency of 3D printing is often considered a bottleneck, hindering its application across various fields. Herein, a versatile and efficient strategy is proposed, namely, the dimensional reduction printing (DRP) process, to break the obstacle of high efficiency of 3D printing. Specifically, the self-healing CDs/PMMA nanocomposites were constructed via introducing carbon dots (CDs) synthesized by microfluidics into poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) materials. Under the assistance of abundant hydrogen bonding and the entanglement of polymer chains, the fabricated CDs/PMMA nanocomposites exhibited outstanding self-healing properties, which can be utilized as ideal printing inks to achieve a highly efficient 3D printing process through assembling the printed simple 1D and 2D components into complex 3D models. We firmly believe that the DRP strategy opens up an idea for the design of a 3D printing process and points out the direction for the meaningful application of 3D printing technologies.
研究领域:
材料科学
·
化学工程
·
制造技术
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产品关联
DOI
PubMed
高影响因子
Micromachines
·
2015
·Vol. 6
·期 10
·1459-1468
·
IF 1.269
Jingmei Li,Zhou Liu,Haibo Huang,Ho Cheung Shum
In microfluidics, electric fields are widely used to assist the generation and the manipulation of droplets or jets. However, uncontrolled electric field can disrupt the operation of an integrated microfluidic system, for instance, through undesired coalescence of droplets, undesired changes in the wettability of the channel wall or unexpected death of cells. Therefore, an approach to control the distribution of electric fields inside microfluidic channels is needed. Inspired by the electro-magnetic shielding effect in electrical and radiation systems, we demonstrate the shielding of electric fields by incorporating 3D metallic coils in microfluidic devices. Using the degree of coalescence of emulsion drops as an indicator, we have shown that electric fields decrease dramatically in micro-channels surrounded by these conductive metallic coils both experimentally and numerically. Our work illustrates an approach to distribute electric fields in integrated microfluidic networks by selectively installing metallic coils or electrodes, and represents a significant step towards large-scale electro-microfluidic systems.Keywords:droplet coalescence;electric field;microfluidics;coils;shielding
研究领域:
工程学
·
物理学
·
生物学
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产品关联
DOI
高影响因子
Research
·
2019
·
IF 0
Yunru Yu,Jiahui Guo,Lingyu Sun,Xiaoxuan Zhang,Yuanjin Zhao
Inspired by helical or spiral veins, which endow plants with excellent flexibility and elasticity to withstand storms, we present novel hollow microsprings with ionic liquid encapsulation for flexible and stretchable electronics. The microsprings were generated by using a coaxial capillary microfluidic device to consecutively spin poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) presolution and an ionic liquid, which formed laminar flows in the coaxial injection microfluidic channels. The fast phase inversion of PVDF helps to form the core-shell structure of a microfiber and guarantees the in situ encapsulation of ionic liquid. The hybrid microfiber can then spiral and be further solidified to maintain the helical structure with increasing flow rates of the injection fluids. Because of the feasible and precise control of the injection fluids during the microfluidic spinning, the resultant microsprings have controlled core-shell structures, helical pitches, and corresponding electromechanical properties. By further embedding them into stretchable films, the simple paradigm of a flexible device shows great conductive performance in tensile tests and even motion cycles, which could be explored as a promising candidate in stretchable sensors, flexible electronics, and electronic skins.
研究领域:
材料科学
·
生物仿生学
·
电子工程
✓ 已验证
DOI
Polymers
·
2025
·Vol. 17
·期 6
·824
·
IF 4.9
Qi Chen,Na Wang,Dhandapani Kuzhandaivel,Yingxian Chen,Lixin Wu,Longhui Zheng
Wear resistance is the key factor that affects the long-term use of leather. Graphene has excellent wear resistance properties, but ensuring the effective dispersion of graphene in resin is crucial for determining the performance of the material. In this work, silica modified with polydopamine (SiO2@PDA) was used as an exfoliation agent. Using the microfluidization process and water as the medium, silica-graphene hybrid nanoparticles (SiO2@PDA-G) were prepared from expanded graphite. These nanoparticles were further compounded with waterborne polyurethane (WPU), and a superfine fiber-based fabric was used as the substrate to prepare composite coating. The results showed that the high shear force of the microfluidization process easily broke up the lamellar structure of graphite, resulting in few-layer graphene. Nano-silica was adsorbed on the surface of graphene, preventing re-aggregation between the graphene sheets. Compared to the WPU coating, the presence of SiO2@PDA-G improved the wear resistance and mechanical properties of the coating. The wear rate and the average friction coefficient of the composite coating decreased by 48% and 69%, respectively, and the tensile strength increased by 83%. Therefore, this study provides a new strategy for improving the dispersion of graphene in polymer materials and enhancing the abrasion resistance of the coatings.
研究领域:
材料科学
·
化学工程
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
PubMed
高影响因子
危险品化学品经营许可证（带存储）