Khor Jian Wei, Lee Ulri N, Berthier Jean, Berthier Erwin, Theberge Ashleigh B
Department of Chemistry, University of Washington, Box 351700, Seattle, Washington 98195, United States.
Department of Urology, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington 98105, United States.
Adv Mater Interfaces. 2023 Mar 6;10(7). doi: 10.1002/admi.202202234. Epub 2023 Jan 22.
Droplet microfluidics enables compartmentalized reactions in small scales and has been utilized for a variety of applications across chemical analysis, material science, and biology. While droplet microfluidics is a successful technology, barriers include high "activation energy" to develop custom applications and complex peripheral equipment. These barriers limit the adoption of droplet microfluidics in labs or prototyping environments. We demonstrate for the first time an open channel droplet microfluidic system that autonomously generates droplets at low Capillary numbers. Hundreds of droplets are produced in a run using only an open channel, pipettes, and a commercially available carrier fluid. Conceptual applications that showcase the process of droplet generation, splitting, transport, incubation, mixing, and sorting are demonstrated. The open nature of the device enables the use of physical tools such as tweezers and styli to directly access the system; with this, a new method of droplet sorting and transfer unique to open systems is demonstrated. This platform offers enhanced usability, direct access to the droplet contents, easy manufacturability, compact footprint, and high customizability. This design is a first step in exploring the space of power-free open droplet microfluidic systems and provides design rules for similar channel designs.
微滴微流控技术能够在小尺度下实现分隔反应，已被应用于化学分析、材料科学和生物学等多个领域。尽管微滴微流控技术是一项成功的技术，但其障碍包括开发定制应用的高“活化能”以及复杂的外围设备。这些障碍限制了微滴微流控技术在实验室或原型制作环境中的应用。我们首次展示了一种开放通道微滴微流控系统，该系统能够在低毛细管数下自主产生微滴。仅使用开放通道、移液器和市售载液，一次运行就能产生数百个微滴。展示了微滴生成、分裂、运输、孵育、混合和分选过程的概念性应用。该设备的开放特性使得可以使用镊子和探针等物理工具直接进入系统；据此，展示了一种开放系统特有的微滴分选和转移新方法。该平台具有更高的可用性、可直接接触微滴内容物、易于制造、占地面积小和高度可定制性等优点。这种设计是探索无动力开放微滴微流控系统领域的第一步，并为类似的通道设计提供了设计规则。
