Flow-induced shear stress and deformation of a core–shell-structured microcapsule in a microchannel

A numerical model was developed and validated to investigate the fluid–structure interactions between fully developed pipe flow and core–shell-structured microcapsule in a microchannel. Different flow rates and microcapsule shell thicknesses were considered. A sixth-order rotational symmetric distribution of von Mises stress over the microcapsule shell can be observed on the microcapsule with a thinner shell configuration, especially at higher flow rate conditions. It is also observed that when being carried along in a fully developed pipe flow, the microcapsule with a thinner shell tends to accumulate stress at a higher rate compared to that with a thicker shell. In general, for the same microcapsule configuration, higher flow velocity would induce a higher stress level over the microcapsule shell. The deformation gradient was used to capture the microcapsule's deformation in the present study. The effect of Young's modulus on the microcapsule shell on the microcapsule deformation was investigated as well. Our findings will shed light on the understanding of the stability of core–shell-structured microcapsule when subjected to flow-induced shear stress in a microfluidic system, enabling a more exquisite control over the breakup dynamics of drug-loaded microcapsule for biomedical applications.     

A microfluidics-dispensing-printing strategy for Janus photonic crystal microspheres towards smart patterned displays

From the implementation point of view, the printable magnetic Janus colloidal photonic crystals (CPCs) microspheres are highly desirable. Herein, we developed a dispensing-printing strategy for magnetic Janus CPCs display via a microfluidics-automatic printing system. Monodisperse core/shell colloidal particles and magnetic Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles precursor serve as inks. Based on the equilibrium of three-phase interfacial tensions, Janus structure is successfully formed, followed by UV irradiation and self-assembly of colloid particle to generate magnetic Janus CPCs microspheres. Notably, this method shows distinct superiority with highly uniform Janus CPCs structure, where the TMPTA/Fe₃O₄ hemisphere is in the bottom side while CPCs hemisphere is in the top side. Thus, by using Janus CPCs microspheres with two different structural colors as pixel points, a pattern with red flower and green leaf is achieved. Moreover, 1D linear Janus CPCs pattern encapsulated by hydrogel is also fabricated. Both the color and the shape can be changed under the traction of magnets, showing great potentials in flexible smart displays. We believe this work not only offers a new feasible pathway to construct magnetic Janus CPCs patterns by a dispensing-printable fashion, but also provides new opportunities for flexible and smart displays.     

Effect of wall slip on the viscoelastic particle ordering in a microfluidic channel

The formation of a line of equally spaced particles at the centerline of a microchannel, referred as “particle ordering,” is desired in several microfluidic applications. Recent experiments and simulations highlighted the capability of viscoelastic fluids to form a row of particles characterized by a preferential spacing. When dealing with non-Newtonian fluids in microfluidics, the adherence condition of the liquid at the channel wall may be violated and the liquid can slip over the surface, possibly affecting the ordering efficiency. In this work, we investigate the effect of wall slip on the ordering of particles suspended in a viscoelastic liquid by numerical simulations. The dynamics of a triplet of particles in an infinite cylindrical channel is first addressed by solving the fluid and particle governing equations. The relative velocities computed for the three-particle system are used to predict the dynamics of a train of particles flowing in a long microchannel. The distributions of the interparticle spacing evaluated at different slip coefficients, linear particle concentrations, and distances from the channel inlet show that wall slip slows down the self-assembly mechanism. For strong slipping surfaces, no significant change of the initial microstructure is observed at low particle concentrations, whereas strings of particles in contact form at higher concentrations. The detrimental effect of wall slip on viscoelastic ordering suggests care when designing microdevices, especially in case of hydrophobic surfaces that may enhance the slipping phenomenon.     

Vacuum‐driven fluid manipulation by a piezoelectric diaphragm micropump for microfluidic droplet generation with a rapid system response time

Recently, we developed a convenient microfluidic droplet generation device based on vacuum‐driven fluid manipulation with a piezoelectric diaphragm micropump. In the present study built on our previous work, we investigate the influence of settings applied to the piezoelectric pump, such as peak‐to‐peak drive voltage (V_p‐p) and wave frequency, on droplet generation characteristics. Stepwise adjustments to the drive voltage in ±10‐V_p‐p increments over the range of 200?250 V_p‐p during droplet creation revealed that the droplet generation rate could be reproducibly controlled at a specific drive voltage. The droplet generation rate switched within <0.5 s after the input of a new voltage. Although the droplet generation rate depended on the drive voltage, this setting had almost no influence on droplet size. The frequency over the selected range (50?60 Hz) did not markedly influence the droplet generation rate or droplet size. We show that the current fluid manipulation system can be conveniently used for both droplet generation and for rapid droplet reading, which is required in many microfluidic‐based applications.     

One-Step Nucleic Acid Purification and Noise-Resistant Polymerase Chain Reaction by Electrokinetic Concentration for Ultralow-Abundance Nucleic Acid Detection

Nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs)integrated on a chip hold great promise for point-of-care diagnostics. Currently, nucleic acid (NA) purification remains time-consuming and labor-intensive, and it takes extensive efforts to optimize the amplification chemistry. Using selective electrokinetic concentration, we report one-step, liquid-phase NA purification that is simpler and faster than conventional solid-phase extraction. By further re-concentrating NAs and performing polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in a microfluidic chamber, our platform suppresses non-specific amplification caused by non-optimal PCR designs. We achieved the detection of 5 copies of M. tuberculosis genomic DNA (equaling 0.3 cell) in real biofluids using both optimized and non-optimal PCR designs, which is 10- and 1000-fold fewer than those of the standard bench-top method, respectively. By simplifying the workflow and shortening the development cycle of NAATs, our platform may find use in point-of-care diagnosis.     

Chameleonlike metashells in microfluidics: A passive approach to adaptive responses

Heat energy can transfer via convection, conduction, and radiation. Based on convection and conduction in microfluidics, people have designed and fabricated many novel devices. However, almost none of them has adaptivity, thus restricting practical applications under different conditions. To solve this problem, here we propose a passive approach to adaptive responses. That is,we consider the thermal convection-conduction process in microfluidic structures where Darcy’s law and Fourier’s law are both valid. By carefully designing two key parameters(i.e., tensorial thermal conductivity and tensorial permeability) of a metashell,we theoretically reveal that its effective properties(i.e., effective thermal conductivity and effective permeability) can adaptively change according to the inside object, thus yielding the "chameleonlike metashell". Further, this metashell is passive since it requires no prior knowledge of the inside object. We also report that the chameleonlike behavior can occur for anisotropic inside objects, nonuniform external fields, or even complex shapes. All theoretical analyses agree well with finite-element simulations.The chameleonlike metashell can act as an intelligent metamaterial in microfluidics for its adaptive responses, and it can also benefit other physical fields where convection plays a role, such as mass diffusion.     

Printed Circuit Board-Based Electrolyte Regulator for Laminar Microfluidics

The trench on a printed circuit board was reconstructed to fabricate a microfluidic framework that allows low-cost production for small quantities and integration with multifunctional elements. An on-chip electrolyte regulator was thus proposed on this platform to analyze diffusion properties in laminar flow. A numerical model was developed, highlighting the interplay between the electrolyte migration and hydrodynamic properties. Solutions with dissolved sodium chloride were simulated and experimentally tested for the regulation of electrical conductivity under the guidance of the normalized Nernst-Planck equation. The diffusion mechanism and the resulting concentration field were demonstrated in detail. This approach provides a satisfactory manufacturing method and a useful tool for integrated microfluidic systems.     

Current Advances in Highly Multiplexed Antibody‐Based Single‐Cell Proteomic Measurements

Single‐cell measurements have played a critical role in revealing the complex signaling dynamics and heterogeneity present in cells, but there is still much to learn. Measuring samples from bulk populations of cells often masks the information and dynamics present in subsets of cells. Common single‐cell protein studies rely on fluorescent microscopy and flow cytometry but are limited in multiplexing ability owing to spectral overlap. Recently, technology advancements in single‐cell proteomics have allowed highly multiplexed measurement of multiple parameters simultaneously by using barcoded microfluidic enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assays and mass cytometry techniques. In this review, we will describe recent work around multiparameter single‐cell protein measurements and critically analyze the techniques.     

Online Flowing Colloidosomes for Sequential Multi‐analyte High‐Throughput SERS Analysis

3D plasmonic colloidosomes are superior SERS sensors owing to their high sensitivity and excellent tolerance to laser misalignment. Herein, we incorporate plasmonic colloidosomes in a microfluidic channel for online SERS detection. Our method resolves the poor signal reproducibility and inter‐sample contamination in the existing online SERS platforms. Our flow system offers rapid and continuous online detection of 20 samples in less than 5 min with excellent signal reproducibility. The isolated colloidosomes prevent cross‐sample and channel contamination, allowing accurate quantification of samples over a concentration range of five orders of magnitude. Our system demonstrates high‐resolution multiplex detection with fully preserved signal and Raman features of individual analytes in a mixture. High‐throughput multi‐assay analysis is performed, which highlights that our system is capable of rapid identification and quantification of a sequence of samples containing various analytes and concentrations.