Liu Chang, Liu Xiaofeng, Tang Qiang, Zhou Wenhao, Ma Yan, Gong Zheng, Chen Junhao, Zheng Huai, Joo Sang Woo
School of Power and Mechanical Engineering, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China.
The Institute of Technological Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China.
Anal Chem. 2022 Jun 14;94(23):8217-8225. doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem.2c00178. Epub 2022 May 27.
An active and precise method for three-dimensional (3D) droplet manipulation is introduced. By modulating the local electrostatic force acting on droplets in carrier oil between needle plate electrodes, the vertical motion of droplets can be controlled, including the droplet levitation at the interface between the carrier oil and the air. Levitated droplets can be translated horizontally with high efficiency by the motion of the needle electrode. With controllable local deformation on the flexible plate electrode, selective manipulation can be realized for multiple droplets. Applying the manipulation method proposed, a platform is built and various droplet handling, such as transport, merging, and mixing, is performed effectively. Complex droplet transport trajectories are achieved by moving the needle electrode. The droplet transport velocity can reach up to 37 mm/s. The introduced method has fundamental advantages of avoiding cross-contamination between droplets, enhancing the flexibility, eliminating the transport track constraint, and lowering costs with straightforward and precise droplet manipulation.
介绍了一种用于三维（3D）液滴操控的主动且精确的方法。通过调制作用于针板电极之间载油中液滴的局部静电力，可以控制液滴的垂直运动，包括液滴在载油与空气界面处的悬浮。悬浮的液滴可通过针电极的运动高效地水平平移。通过柔性板电极上可控的局部变形，可实现对多个液滴的选择性操控。应用所提出的操控方法，构建了一个平台，并有效地进行了各种液滴处理，如运输、合并和混合。通过移动针电极可实现复杂的液滴运输轨迹。液滴运输速度可达37毫米/秒。所介绍的方法具有避免液滴之间交叉污染、增强灵活性、消除运输轨迹限制以及通过直接且精确的液滴操控降低成本等基本优势。
