Chemical and Biological Microassays in Freely Suspended Droplets on Novel Fluidic Chips
Abstract
We developed the principles of a platform for manipulation of freely suspended micro- and nanoliter droplets for micromanipulation and microassays. The liquid transport in such chips requires very low energy input due to the lack of microchannels or solid walls present in conventional microfluidic devices. Water droplets float on the surface of a denser perfluorinated liquid and are driven by alternating or constant electric fields created by addressable arrays of electrodes immersed in the oil. The ability to manipulate droplets from suspensions, and to observe the dynamics of particles inside them revealed charge and polarization effects that affect the dynamics of the droplets and thermal gradient effects that lead to separation of the particles into either the top or bottom part of the droplet. These effects can be conducive to carrying rapid agglutination assays, as they allow pre- concentration of the particles. We demonstrated a few chemical precipitation reactions inside the droplets and observed the dynamics of live cells suspended and transported within the droplet microcarriers. The results provide insights on the potential use of the droplet microfluidic platform to parallel assays on the microscale.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 01, 2004
- Accession Number
- ADA424968
Entities
People
- Orlin D. Velev
Organizations
- North Carolina State University