Wang Ning, Tan Furui, Zhao Yu, Tsoi Chi Chung, Fan Xudong, Yu Weixing, Zhang Xuming
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Shenzhen Research Institute, Shenzhen, P.R. China.
Department of Applied Physics, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, P.R. China.
Sci Rep. 2016 Jun 29;6:28928. doi: 10.1038/srep28928.
On-chip integration of optical detection units into the microfluidic systems for online monitoring is highly desirable for many applications and is also well in line with the spirit of optofluidics technology-fusion of optics and microfluidics for advanced functionalities. This paper reports the construction of a UV-Vis spectrophotometer on a microreactor, and demonstrates the online monitoring of the photocatalytic degradations of methylene blue and methyl orange under different flow rates and different pH values by detecting the intensity change and/or the peak shift. The integrated device consists of a TiO2-coated glass substrate, a PDMS micro-sized reaction chamber and two flow cells. By comparing with the results of commercial equipment, we have found that the measuring range and the sensitivity are acceptable, especially when the transmittance is in the range of 0.01-0.9. This integrated optofluidic device can significantly cut down the test time and the sample volume, and would provide a versatile platform for real-time characterization of photochemical performance. Moreover, its online monitoring capability may enable to access the usually hidden information in biochemical reactions like intermediate products, time-dependent processes and reaction kinetics.
将光学检测单元集成到微流控系统中以进行在线监测，对于许多应用来说都是非常可取的，并且也完全符合光流体技术的理念——将光学和微流控技术融合以实现先进功能。本文报道了在微反应器上构建紫外可见分光光度计，并通过检测强度变化和/或峰移来展示在不同流速和不同pH值下对亚甲基蓝和甲基橙光催化降解的在线监测。该集成装置由一个涂有TiO₂的玻璃基板、一个PDMS微型反应室和两个流通池组成。通过与商业设备的结果进行比较，我们发现测量范围和灵敏度是可以接受的，特别是当透光率在0.01 - 0.9范围内时。这种集成光流体装置可以显著缩短测试时间并减少样品体积，并将为光化学性能的实时表征提供一个通用平台。此外，其在线监测能力可能使人们能够获取生化反应中通常隐藏的信息，如中间产物、时间相关过程和反应动力学。
