Simulations of the untying of molecular friction knots between individual polymer strands

The dynamics of molecular knots is implicated in a broad range of phenomena, from DNA replication to relaxation of polymer melts. Motivated by the recent experiments, in which biopolymer knots have been observed and manipulated at a single-molecule level, we have used computer simulations to study the dynamics of "friction knots" joining individual polymer strands. A friction knot splicing two ropes becomes jammed when the ropes are pulled apart. In contrast, molecular friction knots eventually become undone by thermal motion. We show that depending on the knot type and on the polymer structure, a microscopic friction knot can be strong (the time tau the knot stays tied increases with the force F applied to separate the strands) or weak (tau decreases with increasing F). The strong knot behavior is a microscopic analog of macroscopic knot jamming. We further describe a simple model explaining these behaviors.     

'Fab-chips': a versatile, fabric-based platform for low-cost, rapid and multiplexed diagnostics

Low cost and scalable manufacture of lab-on-chip devices for applications such as point-of-care testing is an urgent need. Weaving is presented as a unified, scalable and low-cost platform for the manufacture of fabric chips that can be used to perform such testing. Silk yarns with different properties are first selected, treated with the appropriate reagent solutions, dried and handloom-woven in one step into an integrated fabric chip. This platform has the unique advantage of scaling up production using existing and low cost physical infrastructure. We have demonstrated the ability to create pre-defined flow paths in fabric by using wetting and non-wetting silk yarns and a Jacquard attachment in the loom. Further, we show that yarn parameters such as the yarn twist frequency and weaving coverage area may be conveniently used to tune both the wicking rate and the absorptive capacity of the fabric. Yarns optimized for their final function were used to create an integrated fabric chip containing reagent-coated yarns. Strips of this fabric were then used to perform a proof-of-concept immunoassay with sample flow taking place by capillary action and detection being performed by a visual readout.     

丙烯腈-衣康酸基纳米纤维纱线的热稳定及碳化研究

碳纳米纤维主要以聚丙烯腈(PAN)作为前驱体,通过纺丝、热稳定、碳化等后处理工艺制备而得.但是,PAN基纳米纤维取向度低、致密性差,热稳定后环化度低,碳化后导电性差等缺点阻碍其在高性能碳纳米纤维领域的发展.因此,在PAN分子链中引入衣康酸(IA),通过溶液聚合法合成了P(AN-co-IA)共聚物并通过静电纺丝法制备了P...     

Microfluidic pool structure for cell docking and rapid mixing

A microfluidic pool structure for cell docking and rapid mixing is described. The pool structure is defined as a microchamber on one structural layer of a bilayer chip and connects with two or more individual microchannels on the other structural layer. In contrast to the turbulent flow in a macroscale pool, laminar streams enter and exit this microfluidic pool structure with definite and controllable direction that may be influenced by the location and geometry of the pool. A simple microfluidic model was used to validate this hypothesis. In this model, a microscale pool structure was made on the lower layer of a chip and connected with three parallel microchannels in the upper layer. Simulation and experimental results indicated that the flow profile within the pool structure was determined by its geometry and location. This could be used as a flow control method and it was simpler than designs based on microvalve, hydraulic pressure, or electrokinetic force, and has some important applications. For example, controllable streams within this structure were used to immobilize biological cells along the microchannel walls. When different solution streams flowed through the pool, rapid diffusion of analytes occurred for short diffusion distance between vertical flow laminas. Furthermore, desired dilution (mixing) ratio could be obtained by controlling the geometry of the microfluidic pool.     

Dendronized molecular knots: selective synthesis of various generations,enantiomer separation,circular dichroism

For the first time, knot molecules (of the amide type) are synthesized, which bear one to three dendritic units of various generations at their periphery. They were obtained through two different routes: i) attachment of dendritic wedges to new mono-, di- and trihydroxy functionalized dodecaamide knots that have been obtained by selective debenzylation of oligobenzyloxy substituted knots, or ii) cyclization of already dendron substituted pyridine-2,6-dicarbonyl dichlorides with an "extended diamine" to directly yield the "tri-dendroknots". The derivatization of knot molecules by functional substituents and even large dendritic units is an important advance in the synthesis and property variation of molecular knots. This holds true in particular for substitution of the pyridine units of the knots, whereas the isophthalic acid units seem not to tolerate larger substitutents, as reflected in lower knot yields. These syntheses also demonstrate knots to be accessible indirectly by substitution of the corresponding mono-, di- and tri-functionalized knot skeleton. An advantage of dendritic "decoration" is the control of solubility and chromatographic behaviour of the molecular knots (knotanes). Suggestions are made about the threading mechanism by supramolecular template effects leading to the formation of amide-based molecular knots. The topological chirality of the new "dendroknots" is shown by efficient enantioseparations (separation factor alpha between 1.22 and 1.48). For this purpose (commercially unavailable) chiral column material of the Chiralpak type was used, in which the chiral component is covalently bonded to the silica gel support. The racemate splittings provide additional evidence for the knotted structure, as all other conceivable isomers such as macromonocyclic or catenated dodecaamides would not be chiral. The pure enantiomers obtained exhibit pronounced Cotton effects in their circular dichroism spectra. By comparison with the unsubstituted knot, the absolute configuration (Lambda, Delta) of all new knots is derived.     

A Passive Mixer with Changeable Mixing Mechanism

In this work, a 3D mixer has been conceived based on the splitting and recombining mechanism with simple topology structure. This mixer can present excellent performance at extremely low Reynolds number, which is very important for the practical use. Further research exhibits that the mixing also can be realized via the chaotic advection that occurred at decreased aspect ratio of channel. Thus, the changeable mechanism of mixer shows potential of being used widely. Meanwhile, mixing process has been confirmed in a fabricated structure. The simulated flow patterns reappear in a scaled‐up mixer and full mixing can be achieved in 8 mm channel length at varied flow rate. Due to the high efficiency and easy fabrication, this 3D mixer possesses great prospect for a large number of microfluidic systems.     

Rapid droplet mixers for digital microfluidic systems

The mixing of analytes and reagents for a biological or chemical lab-on-a-chip is an important, yet difficult, microfluidic operation. As volumes approach the sub-nanoliter regime, the mixing of liquids is hindered by laminar flow conditions. An electrowetting-based linear-array droplet mixer has previously been reported. However, fixed geometric parameters and the presence of flow reversibility have prevented even faster droplet mixing times. In this paper, we study the effects of varying droplet aspect ratios (height:diameter) on linear-array droplet mixers, and propose mixing strategies applicable for both high and low aspect ratio systems. An optimal aspect ratio for four electrode linear-array mixing was found to be 0.4, with a mixing time of 4.6 seconds. Mixing times were further reduced at this ratio to less than three seconds using a two-dimensional array mixer, which eliminates the effects of flow reversibility. For lower aspect ratio (相似文献   

A novel method for the production of conductive ring spun yarn

To take the advantages of spun yarns such as porosity, softness, bending as well as usability as yarn/fabric forms, this study worked on an alternative conductive yarn production method. Different from widely used application methods, a conductive nanosuspension was applied to viscose, cotton and polyester open fibre bundles with different feeding amounts during the ring spinning with a specially developed apparatus. Reduced graphene oxide (rGO) synthesized with a single step process instead of two-step processes was used to impart conductivity. Following to yarn production, winding, knitting and washing processes were realized to evaluate the changes in yarn conductivity and the usability of the yarns in the post-spinning processes. In addition to tensile properties of the yarns and air permeability of the fabrics, electrical resistance and environmental impact of the method was compared with immersion and drying process. The results indicated that alternative method allows the production of conductive (lower resistance than 100 kΩ) but also strong, flexible, washable and breathable electronic textile products with an environmentally friendly process. There has been no effort, as yet, to get conductivity in this manner. Therefore, the developed method can be considered to be a new application in the functional yarn production field. The produced conductive yarns can be converted into fabric form by weaving, knitting and embroidery. Therefore, they can also be seen as an ideal as the platforms for future wearable electronics.

     

Integrated ionic liquid-based electrofluidic circuits for pressure sensing within polydimethylsiloxane microfluidic systems

This paper reports a novel pressure sensor with an electrical readout based on electrofluidic circuits constructed by ionic liquid (IL)-filled microfluidic channels. The developed pressure sensor can be seamlessly fabricated into polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microfluidic systems using the well-developed multilayer soft lithography (MSL) technique without additional assembly or sophisticated cleanroom microfabrication processes. Therefore, the device can be easily scaled up and is fully disposable. The pressure sensing is achieved by measuring the pressure-induced electrical resistance variation of the constructed electrofluidic resistor. In addition, an electrofluidic Wheatstone bridge circuit is designed for accurate and stable resistance measurements. The pressure sensor is characterized using pressurized nitrogen gas and various liquids which flow into the microfluidic channels. The experimental results demonstrate the great long-term stability (more than a week), temperature stability (up to 100 °C), and linear characteristics of the developed pressure sensing scheme. Consequently, the integrated microfluidic pressure sensor developed in this paper is promising for better monitoring and for characterizing the flow conditions and liquid properties inside the PDMS microfluidic systems in an easier manner for various lab on a chip applications.     

On amphicheiral knots

Amphicheiral knots with up to 12 crossings are discussed from the perspective of their symmetry properties. By use of an algorithm that involves the development of appropriate vertexbicolored knot graphs, rigidly achiral presentations have been found for all amphicheiral invertible prime knots with up to 10 crossings and for a selected number of such knots with 12 crossings, including 12₁₉₄₄, the first example of an amphicheiral prime knot whoseS _2n diagram is also a reduced diagram. Characteristic properties of wire models of these presentations have been examined. The adjacency matrices of the vertex-bicolored graphs of amphicheiral knots exhibit twofold antisymmetry, and, with the sole exception of 12₄₂₇, all such knots are capable of rigidly antisymmetric presentations.     

Passive and Active Mixing in Microfluidic Devices

In microfluidics the Reynolds number is small, preventing turbulence as a tool for mixing, while diffusion is that slow that time does not yield an alternative. Mixing in microfluidics therefore must rely on chaotic advection, as well-known from polymer technology practice where on macroscale the high viscosity makes the Reynolds numbers low and diffusion slow. The mapping method is used to analyze and optimize mixing also in microfluidic devices. We investigate passive mixers like the staggered herringbone micromixer (SHM), the barrier embedded micromixer (BEM) and a three-dimensional serpentine channel (3D-SC). Active mixing is obtained via incorporating particles that introduce a hyperbolic flow in e.g. two dimensional serpentine channels. Magnetic beads chains-up in a flow after switching on a magnetic field. Rotating the field creates a physical rotor moving the flow field. The Mason number represents the ratio of viscous forces to the magnetic field strength and its value determines the fate of the rotor: a single, an alternating single and double, or a multiple part chain-rotor results. The type of rotor determines the mixing quality with best results in the alternating case where crossing streamlines introduce chaotic advection. Finally, an active mixing device is proposed that mimics the cilia in nature. The transverse flow induced by their motion indeed enhances mixing at the microscale.     

Design of pressure-driven microfluidic networks using electric circuit analogy

This article reviews the application of electric circuit methods for the analysis of pressure-driven microfluidic networks with an emphasis on concentration- and flow-dependent systems. The application of circuit methods to microfluidics is based on the analogous behaviour of hydraulic and electric circuits with correlations of pressure to voltage, volumetric flow rate to current, and hydraulic to electric resistance. Circuit analysis enables rapid predictions of pressure-driven laminar flow in microchannels and is very useful for designing complex microfluidic networks in advance of fabrication. This article provides a comprehensive overview of the physics of pressure-driven laminar flow, the formal analogy between electric and hydraulic circuits, applications of circuit theory to microfluidic network-based devices, recent development and applications of concentration- and flow-dependent microfluidic networks, and promising future applications. The lab-on-a-chip (LOC) and microfluidics community will gain insightful ideas and practical design strategies for developing unique microfluidic network-based devices to address a broad range of biological, chemical, pharmaceutical, and other scientific and technical challenges.     

Processing and Properties of Nanocomposite Filament Yarns with Various Filler Concentrations from Two Different Modification Methods

In this research, the possibility of producing and processing nanocomposite polypropylene filament yarns with permanent antimicrobial efficiency has been assessed by comparing two different methods. Therefore two approaches were used to mix various blending contents of antimicrobial agents based on silver/TiO₂ nano particles with PP: 1) mixing of PP powder and inorganic nanocomposite powder as an antibacterial agent with the appropriate concentration in a twin screw extruder, preparing modified granules and feeding them to the melt spinning machine, 2) producing masterbatch by a twin screw extruder and blending it with PP in the melt spinning process. In both methods, pure PP and all other combined samples had an acceptable spinnability at the spinning temperature of 240 °C and take-up speed of 2000 m/min. After producing as-spun filament yarns by a pilot plant melt spinning machine, samples were drawn, textured and finally weft knitted. Physical and structural properties of as-spun and drawn yarns with constant and variable draw ratios were investigated and compared. Moreover, the DSC, SEM and FTIR techniques have been used for samples characterization. Finally antibacterial efficiency of knitted samples was evaluated. The experimental results indicated that the maximum crystallinity reduction of modified as-spun yarns reached 5%. But by applying method 2 (masterbatch), crystallinity of modified as-spun yarns remained unchanged compared to pure yarn. However, drawing procedure has compensated this difference. By applying the second method, the drawing generally improved the increase of tenacity and modulus of modified fibers, whereas in method 1 the opposite effect was noticed in the case of constant draw ratio. Although the biostatic efficiency of nanocomposite fibers was excellent in both methods, modified fabrics obtained from method 1 showed higher bioactivity.     

Passive regulation of volume‐flow ratio for microfluidic streams with different hydrophilicity and viscosity

Biochemical solutions have a wide range of hydrophilicity (contact angle and surface tension) and viscosity. A critical challenge is that microfluidic systems typically need expensive or complex pumps to control the various parallel biochemical streams. In this study, without using any pumps, we present a simple scheme that controls the ratio of the volumetric flow rate (VFR) of the parallel streams that have highly different hydrophilicity and viscosity. We accomplish this process by using capillarity to drive and merge two streams, and by regulating relative flow resistance to control the VFR ratio. Our results will significantly simplify the control of the VFR ratio for the various biochemical solutions that are used in microfluidic applications.     

Design of an interface to allow microfluidic electrophoresis chips to drink from the fire hose of the external environment

An interface design is presented that facilitates automated sample introduction into an electrokinetic microchip, without perturbing the liquids within the microfluidic device. The design utilizes an interface flow channel with a volume flow resistance that is 0.54-4.1 x 10(6) times lower than the volume flow resistance of the electrokinetic fluid manifold used for mixing, reaction, separation, and analysis. A channel, 300 microm deep, 1 mm wide and 15-20 mm long, was etched in glass substrates to create the sample introduction channel (SIC) for a manifold of electrokinetic flow channels in the range of 10-13 microm depth and 36-275 microm width. Volume flow rates of up to 1 mL/min were pumped through the SIC without perturbing the solutions within the electrokinetic channel manifold. Calculations support this observation, suggesting a leakage flow to electroosmotic flow ratio of 0.1:1% in the electrokinetic channels, arising from 66-700 microL/min pressure-driven flow rates in the SIC. Peak heights for capillary electrophoresis separations in the electrokinetic flow manifold showed no dependence on whether the SIC pump was on or off. On-chip mixing, reaction and separation of anti-ovalbumin and ovalbumin could be performed with good quantitative results, independent of the SIC pump operation. Reproducibility of injection performance, estimated from peak height variations, ranged from 1.5-4%, depending upon the device design and the sample composition.     

Zigzags, railroads, and knots in fullerenes

Two connections between fullerene structures and alternating knots are established. Knots may appear in two ways: from zigzags, i.e., circuits (possibly self-intersecting) of edges running alternately left and right at successive vertices, and from railroads, i.e., circuits (possibly self-intersecting) of edge-sharing hexagonal faces, such that the shared edges occur in opposite pairs. A z-knot fullerene has only a single zigzag, doubly covering all edges: in the range investigated (n /= 38, all chiral, belonging to groups C(1), C(2), C(3), D(3), or D(5). An r-knot fullerene has a railroad corresponding to the projection of a nontrivial knot: examples are found for C(52) (trefoil), C(54) (figure-of-eight or Flemish knot), and, with isolated pentagons, at C(96), C(104), C(108), C(112), C(114). Statistics on the occurrence of z-knots and of z-vectors of various kinds, z-uniform, z-transitive, and z-balanced, are presented for trivalent polyhedra, general fullerenes, and isolated-pentagon fullerenes, along with examples with self-intersecting railroads and r-knots. In a subset of z-knot fullerenes, so-called minimal knots, the unique zigzag defines a specific Kekulé structure in which double bonds lie on lines of longitude and single bonds on lines of latitude of the approximate sphere defined by the polyhedron vertices.     

Rapid method for design and fabrication of passive micromixers in microfluidic devices using a direct-printing process

We developed a facile and rapid one-step technique for design and fabrication of passive micromixers in microfluidic devices using a direct-printing process. A laser printing mechanism was dexterously adopted to pattern the microchannels with different gray levels using vector graphic software. With the present method, periodically ordered specific bas-relief microstructures can be easily fabricated on transparencies by a simple printing process. The size and shape of the resultant microstructures are determined by the gray level of the graphic software and the resolution of the laser printer. Patterns of specific bas-relief microstructures on the floor of a channel act as obstacles in the flow path for advection mixing, which can be used as efficient mixing elements. The mixing effect of the resultant micromixer in microfluidic devices was evaluated using CCD fluorescence spectroscopy. We found that the mixing performance depends strongly on the gray level values. Under optimal conditions, fast passive mixing with our periodic ordered patterns in microfluidic devices has been achieved at the very early stages of the laminar flow. In addition, fabrication of micromixers using the present versatile technique requires less than an hour. The present method is promising for fabrication of micromixers in microfluidic devices at low cost and without complicated devices and environment, providing a simple solution to mixing problems in the micro-total-analysis-systems field.     

Green microfluidic devices made of corn proteins

An alternative green microfluidic device made of zein, a prolamin of corn, can be utilized as a disposable environmentally friendly microchip especially in agriculture applications. Using standard soft lithography and stereo lithography techniques, we fabricated thin zein films with microfluidic chambers and channels. These were bonded to both a glass slide and another zein film. The zein film with microfluidic features bonds irreversibly with other surfaces by vapor-deposition of ethanol to create an adhesive layer resulting in very little or no trapped air and small shape distortion. Zein-zein and zein-glass microfluidic devices demonstrated sufficient strength to facilitate fluid flow in a complex microfluidic design that showed no leakage under high hydraulic pressure. Zein-glass microfluidic devices with serpentine mixing design showed successful fluid manipulation as a concentration gradient of Rhodamine B solution was generated. The ease of fabrication and bonding and the flexibility and moldability of zein offer attractive possibilities for microfluidic device design and manufacturing. These devices can include several unit operations with mixing being one of the most commonly used. The zein-based microfluidic devices, made entirely from a biopolymer from agricultural origin, offer alternative environmentally friendly material choices that are less dependent on limited petroleum based polymer resources.     

Model carbyne knots vs ideal knots

The structure and stability of model carbyne knots built from 60 to 120 carbon atoms with 0, 3, 4,., 7 crossings have been estimated by semiempirical AM1 calculations. The calculations have shown an increase of the knot-cycle energy difference (deltaE) with an increasing number of knot crossings and a decrease of deltaE with an increasing number of atoms constituting the molecule. The deltaE changes nonlinearly with the characteristics of the corresponding ideal knots such as the average crossing number (ACN) and the length-to-diameter ratio (L/D). The molecular mechanic strain energy of carbyne knots correlates similarly with ACN and L/D of ideal knots. The calculated energy of the model carbyne knots correlates also with the electrophoretic mobility or sedimentation coefficient of DNA knots. Thus, similarly to characteristics of ideal knots, the energy of carbyne knots is a rather easily available parameter which can be used for further correlations with some characteristics of DNA knots.