Biomedical Optics Express
·
2024
·Vol. 15
·期 7
·4253-4263
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IF 2.9
Xiaowei Zhao,Wenli Liu,Zhixiong Hu,Liangcheng Duan,Xiao Zhang,Fei Li,Baoyu Hong
Retinal vascular health holds paramount importance for healthy vision. Many technologies have been developed to examine retinal vasculature non-destructively, including fundus cameras, optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA), fluorescein angiography (FA), and so on. However, there is a lack of a proper phantom simulating the critical features of the real human retina to calibrate and evaluate the performance of these technologies. In this work, we present a rapid, high-resolution, and economical technology based on 3D printed mold-based soft lithography and spin coating for the fabrication of a multivascular network and multilayer structural retinal phantom with the appropriate optical properties. The feasibility of the retinal phantom as a test device was demonstrated with an OCTA system and a confocal retinal ophthalmoscope. Experiment results prove that the retinal phantom could provide an objective evaluation of the OCTA and confocal retinal ophthalmoscope. Furthermore, the microfluidic phantoms enabled by this fabrication technology may support the development and evaluation of other techniques.
研究领域:
医学影像
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生物工程
·
眼科研究
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产品关联
DOI
PubMed
高影响因子
SENSORS
·
2015
·Vol. 15
·期 4
·8931-8944
·
IF 2.245
Xiang Qian,Jie Xu,Cilong Yu,Yan Chen,Quan Yu,Kai Ni,Xiaohao Wang
Monolithically integrated emitters have been increasingly applied to microfluidic devices that are coupled to mass spectrometers (MS) as electrospray ionization sources (ESI). A new method was developed to fabricate a duplicable structure which integrated the emitter into a poly(dimethylsiloxane) chip corner. Two photoresist layers containing a raised base which guaranteed the precise integration of the electrospray tip emitter and ensured that the cutting out of the tip exerted no influence even during repeated prototyping were used to ease the operation of the process. Highly stable ESI-MS performance was obtained and the results were compared with those of a commercial fused-silica capillary source. Furthermore, chip-to-chip and run-to-run results indicated both reliability and reproducibility during repeated fabrication. These results reveal that the proposed chip can provide an ideal ion source for MS across many applications, especially with the perspective to be widely used in portable MS during on-site analysis.Keywords:microfluidic chip;multi-layer soft lithography;electrospray ionization
研究领域:
分析化学
·
质谱分析
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产品关联
DOI
PubMed
高影响因子
RSC Advances
·
2020
·Vol. 10
·期 9
·5478-5486
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IF 3.119
Xiawei Yun,Zhiyuan Xiong,Yaning He,Xiaogong Wang
In this work, reduced graphene oxide (RGO) was used as a material to fabricate superhydrophobic lotus-leaf-like surfaces through soft-lithographic duplication. In the process, a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) stamp was prepared by replica molding against the surfaces of fresh lotus leaves that functioned as masters. A dispersion of octadecylamine-modified reduced graphene oxide (ODA-RGO) in tetrahydrofuran (THF) was used as “ink”. The lotus-leaf-like surfaces were fabricated by microcontact printing on the solid substrates. The results showed that due to the good processibility of the ODA-RGO dispersion, the printed layers display papillary micro/nano-structures with high fidelity to the surfaces of lotus leaves. The RGO-based lotus-leaf-like surfaces possess superhydrophobic characteristics with a water contact angle larger than 160° and the contact angle hysteresis less than 5°. Due to the excellent chemical stability of the RGO sheets, as-prepared surfaces show remarkable superhydrophobic stability. The lotus-leaf-like surfaces maintain the superhydrophobicity after heating treatment at 150 °C for 24 h or being exposed to corrosive solutions with different pH values for 12 h. The present findings prove that the RGO-based material is an ideal candidate for fabrication of environment-durable lotus-leaf-like surfaces, which can be expected to have applications in different areas.
研究领域:
材料科学
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表面工程学
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DOI
PubMed
高影响因子
COLLOIDS AND SURFACES A-PHYSICOCHEMICAL AND ENGINEERING ASPECTS
·
2017
·
IF 2.714
Fapeng Wang,Li Wang,Huaping Wu,Jiuyin Pang,Di Gu,Song Li
Biological microstructures have been a source of inspiration for scientific researchers and artists. In this paper, the microstructure of the lotus leaf was replicated on the bamboo surfaces by soft lithography, using a fresh lotus leaf as the template and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) for a seal. And the hydrophobic monodisperse nano SiO 2 microspheres were added to improve the strength, abrasion resistance, and water resistance of the bamboo surfaces. X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscope (AFM) showed that the lotus-leaf-like bamboo had a polycrystalline surface, and the lotus-leaf-like topography played a very important role in the fabrication of the superhydrophobic surface. The water contact angle (WCA) of lotus-leaf-like bamboo surface was 152.5° with a low hysteresis showing a good superhydrophobic property. The successful preparation of the lotus-leaf-like bamboo provided a new method for researches on the water corrosion resistance of bamboos, and also confirmed the feasibility that hydrophilic surfaces like the bamboo could be achieved with the nanotechnology.
研究领域:
材料科学
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生物仿生学
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产品关联
DOI
高影响因子
ELECTROPHORESIS
·
2012
·Vol. 33
·期 16
·2591-2597
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IF 3.303
Li Li,Xiaodong Bi,Jianzhao Yu,Carolyn L. Ren,Zhen Liu
Manufacturing materials are an essential element for the fabrication of microfluidic chips. PDMS, the most widely used polymeric material, is associated with apparent disadvantages such as hydrophobic nature, while other materials also suffer from some limitations. In this paper, a new soft lithographic route was proposed for the facile manufacturing of hydrophilic sandwich microchips, using bisphenol A based epoxy acrylate (BABEA) as a new patterning material. The BABEA copolymers are hydrophilic, highly transparent in visible range while highly untransparent when the wavelength is less than 290 nm, and of high replication fidelity. By combining with appropriate monomers, including glycidyl methacrylate, methylmethacrylate, and acrylic acid, the copolymers contain active functional groups, which allows for easy postmodification for desirable functional units. A fabrication procedure was proposed for manufacturing hybrid quartz/BABEA copolymer/quartz microchips. In the procedure, no micromachining equipments, wet etching, or imprinting techniques were involved, making the fabrication approach applicable in ordinary chemistry laboratories. The performance of the prepared microchips was demonstrated in terms of CIEF with UV-whole channel imaging detection. The hydrophilic microchannel ensures stable focusing while the polymeric middle layer acts as a perfectly aligned optical slit for whole channel UV absorbance detection.
研究领域:
微流控技术
·
材料科学
·
分析化学
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
PubMed
高影响因子
COLLOIDS AND SURFACES A-PHYSICOCHEMICAL AND ENGINEERING ASPECTS
·
2016
·
IF 2.76
Fapeng Wang,Song Li,Li Wang
The surfaces of plants represent multifunctional interfaces between the organisms and the environment. The paper reports an experimental method to improve the bamboo properties, in terms of hydrophobicity, and resistance to water absorption. The soft lithography technique was used to modify the bamboo surface, transferring over it a lotus-leaf-like topography, based on a micro/nano hierarchical structure using fresh lotus leaves as the template and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) for seal. Results describe a characterization based on topographical, chemical and water contact angle analysis. The super-hydrophobicity of lotus-like bamboo surfaces were analyzed by virtue of WCA and the microstructures observed by means of SEM, showing a WCA of 156.5° close to that of the lotus leaf’s 160.5°, and rough surface structures with micro-nano papillate hills on bamboo surfaces. Water droplets could easily roll down on such bamboo surfaces, exhibiting super-hydrophobic and low adhesion properties. The successful fabrication of lotus-leaf-like bamboos provided a new direction for researches on the water corrosion resistance of bamboos, which could effectively prevent the damage of moisture to bamboos.
研究领域:
材料科学
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植物学
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产品关联
DOI
高影响因子
JOURNAL OF COLLOID AND INTERFACE SCIENCE
·
2023
·
IF 9.9
Yuhe Shen,Chaoxuan Wang,Zekai Liu,Xuelin Zhang,Rongxin Su,Yuefei Wang,Wei Qi
Inspired by ordered photonic crystals and structural color materials in nature, we successfully prepared hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) photonic films with ordered surface arrays by double-imprint soft lithography. Then we introduced another important material of the cellulose family, cellulose nanocrystals (CNC), which has liquid crystal nature and birefringent properties of the particles, into the system to realize the single-point shrinkage of the film array and the control of structural color. Through multi-component doping and concentration control, we further optimized the multi-scale structure of the materials, and obtained HPC/CNCs composite photonic films with excellent properties in color, stability and flexibility, whose elastic modulus and tensile properties are significantly higher than those of single-component. Further loading of SiO 2 @PDA enhances the color saturation and realizes the in-situ reduction of metal ions on the film surface. This plasma film can track a variety of substances with high sensitivity and long-term stability, showing potential application prospects in the field of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), which provides a potential possibility for chiral structures to be used in the field of biosensor detection and circularly polarized luminescence.
研究领域:
材料科学
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光学
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生物传感
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产品关联
DOI
PubMed
高影响因子
Science Advances
·
2021
·Vol. 7
·期 43
·
IF 14.143
Di Chen,Chujun Ni,Lulin Xie,Ye Li,Shihong Deng,Qian Zhao,Tao Xie
Soft lithography is a complementary extension of classical photolithography, which involves a multistep operation that is environmentally unfriendly and intrinsically limited to planar surfaces. Inspired by homeostasis processes in biology, we report a self-growth strategy toward direct soft lithography, bypassing conventional photolithography and its limitations. Our process uses a paraffin swollen light responsive dynamic polymer network. Selective light exposure activates the network locally, causing stress imbalance. This drives the internal redistribution of the paraffin liquid, yielding controllable formation of microstructures. This single-step process is completed in 10 seconds, does not involve any volatile solvents/reactants, and can be adapted to three-dimensional complex surfaces. The living nature of the network further allows sequential growth of hierarchical microstructures. The versatility and efficiency of our approach offer possibilities for future nanotechnologies beyond conventional microfabrication techniques.
研究领域:
材料科学
·
纳米技术
·
化学工程
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DOI
PubMed
高影响因子
Small
·
2024
·
IF 13
Ye Tian,Li Xin Hou,Xin Ning Zhang,Miao Du,Qiang Zheng,Zi Liang Wu
Soft-lithography is widely used to fabricate microstructured surfaces on plastics and elastomers for designable physical properties such as wetting and adhesions. However, it remains a big challenge to construct high-aspect-ratio microstructures on the surface of hydrogels due to the difficulty in demolding from the gel with low strength and stiffness. Demonstrated here is the engineering of tough hydrogels by soft-lithography to form well-defined micropillars. The mechanical properties of poly(acrylamide- co -methacrylic acid) hydrogels with dense hydrogen-bond associations severely depend on temperature, with Young's modulus increasing from 8.1 MPa at 15 °C to 821.8 MPa at −30 °C, enabling easy demolding at low temperatures. Arrays of micropillars are maintained on the surface of the gel, and can be used at room temperature when the gel restores soft and stretchable. The hydrogel also exhibits good shape-memory property, favoring tailoring the morphology with a switchable tilt angle of micropillars. Consequently, the hydrogel shows tunable wetting and adhesion properties, as manifested by varying contact angles and adhesion strengths. These surface properties can also be tuned by geometry and arrangement of micropillars. This facile strategy by harnessing tunable viscoelasticity of supramolecular hydrogels should be applicable to other soft materials, and broaden their applications in biomedical and engineering fields.
研究领域:
材料科学
·
生物医学工程
·
表面工程
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产品关联
DOI
PubMed
高影响因子
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
·
2025
·
IF 8.2
Potao Sun,Wenqing Yang,Wenxia Sima,Tao Yuan,Ming Yang,Ninglong Fu,Zhaoping Li,Xiaoxiao Chen
Real-time, accurate, and passive temperature monitoring is critical for industrial and scientific applications. However, conventional temperature sensors often require external power, rely on complex instrumentation, and may perturb the thermal field, compromising measurement accuracy in passive sensing scenarios. Although thermochromic materials offer visual and passive temperature feedback, their utility is limited by narrow sensitivity ranges and subjective interpretation. To address these challenges, this study introduces a machine-vision-enabled microarray passive temperature sensor (MAPTS) inspired by the cooperative perception mechanism of insect compound eyes. The system comprises arrays of organic thermochromic materials patterned via soft lithography on flexible, thermally conductive substrates, enabling wide-range passive thermal sensing. A deep learning-based ResNet-34 architecture deciphers the color-to-temperature relationship from optical images, facilitating high-precision, noncontact regression-based temperature prediction. Experimental results demonstrate that the MAPTS achieves dynamic thermal responses across 0–70 °C with a rapid prediction time of 50 ms. In a high-density 7 × 7 array configuration, the system exhibits better extrapolation performance (R2 = 0.9996) and higher prediction accuracy (mean absolute error ≤ ±0.3 °C), compared to conventional thermochromic sensing methods. This work presents a cost-effective, highly accurate, and reliable approach for intelligent temperature monitoring in diverse applications.
研究领域:
传感器
·
光学传感
·
热工学
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人工智能
·
材料科学
·
柔性电子
·
工业监测
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产品关联
DOI
PubMed
高影响因子
Advanced Materials Interfaces
·
2022
·Vol. 9
·期 16
·2102590
·
IF 6.389
Bin Zhou,Guohua Li,Mingxi Wu,Zhangkai Zhou,Xin Cai,Jingxuan Cai,Jianhua Zhou
A platform for real-time monitoring and comprehensively studying the adhesion process of microorganisms onto material surfaces as well as their bioactivity on the surface is very helpful to reveal the microbial contamination mechanism on drainage catheters, intravascular stents, and implanted sensors. Herein, a multifunctional sensor based on localized surface plasmon resonance of gold nano-match head arrays (GNMAs) is developed for monitoring the adhesion behavior of microorganisms (such as Candida albicans , i.e., C. albicans ) as well as its inhibitory activity. The sensor is fabricated through soft lithography processes using nanopatterned polydimethylsiloxane stamps, and modified with polymers of different charges for investigating the adhesion of C. albicans onto different charged surfaces. The spectroscopic study shows that C. albicans are more favorable to positively charged surfaces than negatively charged ones, which is also proven by the fluorescence images under microscope. Moreover, the authors demonstrate that the GNMA modified with poly- l -lysine (PLL) can effectively kill the adhered C. albicans due to the membrane destruction and the reactive oxygen species induced by PLL. These unique advantages suggest that the sensor is capable as both an antifungal study system and a real-time monitoring platform for antifungal performance evaluation.
研究领域:
生物医学工程
·
微生物学
·
纳米技术
·
材料科学
✓ 已验证
DOI
高影响因子
SENSORS AND ACTUATORS B-CHEMICAL
·
2020
·
IF 7.1
Xiaofeng Nie,Yuan Luo,Penghui Shen,Chengwu Han,Duli Yu,Xiaoxing Xing
Dielectrophoresis (DEP) as a label-free cell separation approach in microdevices has been extensively investigated for a variety of applications. 3D microelectrodes made of conducting-PDMS inherit the merit of volumetric electrodes for generating influential DEP force throughout the entire channel depth and meanwhile, exploit low-cost fabrication process by soft lithography. However, the configuration of conducting-PDMS electrodes is limited to being embedded in sidewall of flow chamber, which leads to rather low flow rate and difficulties in extension of the flow rate. We previously reported a more effective configuration with 3D interdigitated electrodes made of silicon that assist cell sliding along solid tracks, yet such device requires expensive silicon dry etching and, moreover, the track appears to be patterned with non-straight and wavy outline, which not only hinders the flow rate but also allows cell sliding to occur only along its downstream side. Here we demonstrate low-cost silver-PDMS electrode-track featuring ideally straight outline that induces rather uniform drag to drive smooth cell sliding. Such design achieves live and dead cell separation at flow rate twice as that of silicon tracks with cell loading concentration 10 times higher. It also fully utilizes the track to enable cell sliding on both of the up- and down-stream sides. Notably, we also demonstrate that this track is expandable to be V-shape for more advanced bidirectional cell sliding, which is showcased here by tumor cells separation from lymphocytes at 1.2 mL/h. Such results greatly enhance the throughput as compared to the state-of-art conducting-PDMS based cell separator.
研究领域:
生物医学工程
·
微流控技术
·
细胞分离
·
生物技术
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
高影响因子
危险品化学品经营许可证（带存储）