Review
Chemistry, Analytical
Zahoor H. H. Farooqi, Goran T. T. Vladisavljevic, Nicole Pamme, Arooj Fatima, Robina Begum, Ahmad Irfan, Minjun Chen
Summary: Smart microgels have gained much attention due to their applications in various scientific fields. The morphology, size, and size distribution of microgels strongly affect their applications. Droplet microfluidic techniques are widely used to fabricate monodisperse microgel particles for various applications. This report presents recent research progress in the fabrication, characterization, properties, and applications of microgel particles synthesized by microfluidic methods.
CRITICAL REVIEWS IN ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
(2023)
Article
Mechanics
Michael Dacus, Mahmud Kamal Raihan, Micah Baghdady, Chase Gabbard, Sen Wu, Joshua B. Bostwick, Yongxin Song, Xiangchun Xuan
Summary: The addition of the neutral surfactant Tween 20 has a weak influence on the flow behavior of water and homogeneous polymer solutions. It does not significantly affect the shear viscosity and extensional flow of Newtonian fluids, but reduces the shear viscosity and shear-thinning behavior of xanthan gum and polyacrylamide solutions with strong shear-thinning effects. The addition of Tween 20 also stabilizes the flow and delays flow instability.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Vahid Nasirimarekani, Fernando Benito-Lopez, Lourdes Basabe-Desmonts
Summary: The technology involves manipulating droplets using a magnetic field through the addition of magnetic particles or using magneto responsive surfaces. The experimental study presented and characterized a tunable superparamagnetic ring which stabilizes and enables physical manipulation of droplets on a surface. This work opens new applications in microfluidics and studies on tunable interfaces between immiscible liquids.
ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS
(2021)
Review
Polymer Science
Xi Mao, Mian Wang, Shaohong Jin, Jingyi Rao, Renhua Deng, Jintao Zhu
Summary: This review summarizes the methods for preparing monodispersed polymer particles with various surface microstructures based on droplet microfluidics, as well as their typical applications in drug delivery, cellular immunity, and cell capture. The current challenges and future development in this research area are also discussed.
JOURNAL OF POLYMER SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Tatiane Alfonso de Araujo, Natalia Canhete de Moraes, Jacqueline Marques Petroni, Valdir Souza Ferreira, Bruno Gabriel Lucca
Summary: A new contact stamping method using acrylic varnish and 3D-printed stamps for fabrication of paper-based analytical devices (PADs) was reported. This method allows rapid prototyping and exhibits superior compatibility with organic solvents. The study demonstrated the potential of this method in producing paper electrochemical devices and multiplexed microfluidic devices.
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Simon Dumas, Mathilde Richerd, Marco Serra, Stephanie Descroix
Summary: This study presents a method using microfabricated NiFe structures, called magnetic microtweezers, to trap and extract magnetic particles from droplets and enable physical separation of single cells. The results show high extraction efficiency and applicability in capturing particles and extracting mRNA.
ADVANCED MATERIALS TECHNOLOGIES
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Sinem Orbay, Rana Sanyal, Amitav Sanyal
Summary: Polymeric microgels fabricated via microfluidic techniques can effectively load hydrophobic drugs such as curcumin using porous particles and supramolecular cyclodextrin-based curcumin complexes. The porosity of the microgels plays a crucial role in the drug loading performance, with higher porosity resulting in better loading. The release of curcumin from the microgels induces cytotoxicity in U87 MG human glioma cancer cells.
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Shuai Zhang, Bo Wang, Chenmu Xue, Xiaodong Chen
Summary: This paper presents a reusable and adjustable microfluidic device composed of glass capillaries and polydimethylsiloxane, which allows for the generation of compound microdroplets with different morphologies. The device can be used for rapid prototyping and high-throughput generation of droplets or particles.
ADVANCED MATERIALS TECHNOLOGIES
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Beatriz J. Coelho, Joana P. Neto, Barbara Sieira, Andre T. Moura, Elvira Fortunato, Rodrigo Martins, Pedro V. Baptista, Rui Igreja, Hugo Aguas
Summary: Microfluidic-based platforms are powerful tools for chemical and biological assays. The fusion of different microfluidic technologies has the potential to overcome limitations and enhance their strengths.
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Kerstin Schirrmann, Gabriel Caceres-Aravena, Anne Juel
Summary: Coated droplets self-assemble into regular clusters at the sudden expansion of a microfluidic channel. The assembly is achieved through droplet coalescence at the expansion point, forming clusters of finite size. Observations suggest that cluster size is limited by experimental fluctuations, and this self-assembly method offers a robust alternative for encapsulating multiple cores in a single coating film.
MICROFLUIDICS AND NANOFLUIDICS
(2021)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Yesman Akuoko, Robert L. Hanson, David H. Harris, Jacob B. Nielsen, Elaine Lazalde, Adam T. Woolley
Summary: The study demonstrates the fabrication of microfluidic devices for DNA capture and fluorescence detection of antibiotic resistance gene sequences, showing simplicity, robustness, and affordability. Results indicate that relative fluorescence increases with target DNA concentration, with synthetic target DNA exhibiting higher fluorescence signal and percent recovery compared to plasmid DNA.
ANALYTICAL AND BIOANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
(2021)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Jingyu Wu, David A. Issadore, Daeyeon Lee
Summary: Controlling surface wetting properties of microfluidic channels is essential for reliable performance. Current patterning methods have limited spatial resolution, making them impractical. In this study, a replica mold fabrication technique inspired by soft lithography was developed to transfer channel geometry and surface wettability from a silicon wafer mold to a co-polymer network replica. This technique was successfully demonstrated in the fabrication of a PFPE-PEG-based microfluidic chip with patterned microchannels for double emulsion generation.
ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Dongkyu Lee, Hiroyuki Kitahata, Hiroaki Ito
Summary: Droplet-based microfluidics has been widely used for producing monodispersed micrometer-sized droplets with controlled sizes and shapes. A simplified method for fabricating microparticles with front-back asymmetry in their shapes was studied by investigating anisotropic gelation of alginate droplets, leading to potential applications in novel fabrication techniques of microparticles with asymmetric shapes.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Lorenzo Rovigatti, John Russo, Flavio Romano, Michael Matthies, Lukas Kroc, Petr Sulc
Summary: In this study, we address the problems faced during the self-assembly of colloidal diamond crystals by using the SAT-assembly design framework. We demonstrate that the assembly of CD crystals only requires a binary mixture, and we test a promising DNA nanotechnology design using molecular dynamics simulations.
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
David Eun Reynolds, Olivia Lewallen, George Galanis, Jina Ko
Summary: In this study, we proposed an inexpensive, customizable, and lightweight UV exposure system for microfluidic device fabrication. The system features an adjustable wafer holder that can be easily tailored for different applications, and achieves high light uniformity by adding a light diffusing film. The system demonstrated high-quality photolithography by fabricating microfluidic devices and generating uniform microdroplets.