微流控惠斯通电桥式通用流阻测量方法

标准化是微流控系统的发展趋势,很多器件需要精确的流量控制和传输。因此,准确地表征和测量芯片功能模块的流体阻力具有重要的应用价值。提出了一种类比于惠斯通电桥测量不同流阻大小的器件,该器件将一个芯片内的膜阀视为可变流阻器,与待测器件并联。通过施加不同的压力,控制膜阀的开口度,保持桥平衡,直接计算获得待测芯片的流阻大小。仿真计算发现,其测量范围达到4个数量级,误差控制在3%以内。结果表明,微流控惠斯通电桥是测量流阻的有效方法,可以根据不同的应用环境,设计不同的尺寸和结构,以满足特定需要。     

Efficient,Selective, and Reversible SO2 Capture with Highly Crosslinked Ionic Microgels via a Selective Swelling Mechanism

SO₂ capture through physisorption is a promising environmental benign technology to eliminate the emission of SO₂. However, designing an efficient adsorption material with high capacity and selectivity of SO₂ as well as excellent reversibility remains challenging. Here, a class of highly crosslinked nonporous poly(ionic liquid)s (PILs) xerogels is prepared with high ionic density by photopolymerization of Gemini IL monomers and a microfluidic technology is further explored to prepare the corresponding monodisperse PIL microgels with uniform and controllable sizes at the diameter range from 43 to 250 µm. This kind of novel dense nonporous ionic xerogels/microgels completely exclude the adsorption of common gases (CO₂, CH₄, etc.), but exhibit very high SO₂ adsorption capacity (498 mg g^?1) via selective swelling mechanism. Unprecedented SO₂/CO₂ and SO₂/CH₄ uptake selectivities with the value up to 614 and 1992, respectively, are achieved. The selective swelling mechanism is validated by optical microscope and differential scanning calorimetry measurements. More importantly, these kinds of xerogels show excellent reversibility in adsorption–desorption cycles. Column breakthrough experiments confirm the excellent performance of these PIL xerogels in SO₂ capture. This work demonstrates that designing a nonporous material that has specific swelling interactions with certain molecules can be an effective strategy for realizing extremely high selectivity.     

Micrometer‐Scale Porous Buckling Shell Actuators Based on Liquid Crystal Networks

Micrometer‐scale liquid crystal network (LCN) actuators have potential for application areas like biomedical systems, soft robotics, and microfluidics. To fully harness their power, a diversification in production methods is called for, targeting unconventional shapes and complex actuation modes. Crucial for controlling LCN actuation is the combination of macroscopic shape and molecular‐scale alignment in the ground state, the latter becoming particularly challenging when the desired shape is more complex than a flat sheet. Here, one‐step processing of an LCN precursor material in a glass capillary microfluidic set‐up to mold it into thin shells is used, which are stretched by osmosis to reach a diameter of a few hundred micrometers and thickness on the order of a micrometer, before they are UV crosslinked into an LCN. The shells exhibit radial alignment of the director field and the surface is porous, with pore size that is tunable via the osmosis time. The LCN shells actuate reversibly upon heating and cooling. The decrease in order parameter upon heating induces a reduction in thickness and expansion of surface area of the shells that triggers continuous buckling in multiple locations. Such buckling porous shells are interesting as soft cargo carriers with capacity for autonomous cargo release.     

Dynamic Microcapsules with Rapid and Reversible Permeability Switching

Dynamic microcapsules are reported that exhibit shell membranes with fast and reversible changes in permeability in response to external stimuli. A hydrophobic anhydride monomer is employed in the thiol–ene polymerization as a disguised precursor for the acid‐containing shells; this enables the direct encapsulation of aqueous cargo in the liquid core using microfluidic fabrication of water‐in‐oil‐in‐water double emulsion drops. The poly(anhydride) shells hydrolyze in their aqueous environment without further chemical treatment, yielding cross‐linked poly(acid) microcapsules that exhibit trigger‐responsive and reversible property changes. The microcapsule shell can actively be switched numerous times between impermeable and permeable due to the exceptional mechanical properties of the thiol–ene network that prevent rupture or failure of the membrane, allowing it to withstand the mechanical stresses imposed on the capsule during the dynamic property changes. The permeability and molecular weight cutoff of the microcapsules can dynamically be controlled with triggers such as pH and ionic environment. The reversibly triggered changes in permeability of the shell exhibit a response time of seconds, enabling actively adjustable release profiles, as well as on‐demand capture, trapping, and release of cargo molecules with molecular selectivity and fast on‐off rates.     

三维交流电渗流泵的流量增强效果

在交流电渗流(ACEO)泵的研究中,一般忽略电极厚度的影响;而三维交流电渗流泵通过将电极厚度设计成台阶形式后,可以大大提高电渗流泵的流量。数值研究了电极台阶高度对三维交流电渗流泵流量的影响。研究发现:在驱动电压幅值不变的条件下,随着台阶高度的增加,三维交流电渗流泵流量也会增大;而当台阶高度增加到一定程度后,流量又会随着台阶高度的增加而减小。因此,在三维交流电渗流泵的设计制造中,需要优化电极的台阶高度,选择合适的台阶高度可以极大地提高电渗流泵的流量。通过和传统交流电渗流泵的比较,还研究了三维交流电渗流泵对流量的增强效果。结果表明:在相同模型尺寸参数下,优化台阶高度后的三维交流电渗流泵能极大提高流量。     

Microfluidic 3D Printing Responsive Scaffolds with Biomimetic Enrichment Channels for Bone Regeneration

Tissue-engineered scaffolds have been extensively explored for treating bone defects; however, slow and insufficient vascularization throughout the scaffolds remains a key challenge for further application. Herein, a versatile microfluidic 3D printing strategy to fabricate black phosphorus (BP) incorporated fibrous scaffolds with photothermal responsive channels for improving vascularization and bone regeneration is proposed. The thermal channeled scaffolds display reversible shrinkage and swelling behavior controlled by near-infrared irradiation, which facilitates the penetration of suspended cells into the scaffold channels and promotes the prevascularization. Furthermore, the embedded BP nanosheets exhibit intrinsic properties for in situ biomineralization and improve in vitro cell proliferation and osteogenic differentiation. Following transplantation in vivo, these channels also promote host vessel infiltration deep into the scaffolds and effectively accelerate the healing process of bone defects. Thus, it is believed that these near-infrared responsive channeled scaffolds are promising candidates for tissue/vascular ingrowth in diverse tissue engineering applications.     

An All Hydrophilic Fluid Diode for Unidirectional Flow in Porous Systems

A fluid diode that allows fluid flow in one direction but blocks fluid flow in the opposite direction has wide applications including oil recovery, drug delivery, and lab‐on‐a‐chip microfluidics. Many studies are conducted to facilitate directional liquid motion on the solid surface or across thin porous layers. However, the self‐driven one‐way flow inside porous systems still remains a significant challenge. Here, a novel all‐hydrophilic fluid diode (AHFD) made of porous materials with asymmetric pores is reported, which allows capillary flow in a chosen direction. The direction‐dependent flow process and the breakthrough pressure are experimentally and theoretically examined. The proposed AHFD can have many potential applications such as functional protective clothing, microfluidic valve, and oil–water separator, and the idea can be extended to develop other all lyophilic fluid diodes such as oleophilic diode.     

基于微流控技术的表面活性剂强化驱油研究进展

实现老油田和非常规油田提高采收率评价方法的创新有着重要的科学意义和工程价值。微流控技术可以复现油藏微米、纳米级孔隙结构,并且原位观测微米、纳米级孔隙结构中油藏流体和驱替相流体的流动和相变过程。与传统岩心驱替实验评价方法相比,微流控技术同时具有实时可视化、受限尺度小、样品消耗量少和测量时间短等优点,使之逐步成为研究和筛选驱替剂的有效评价技术方法。得益于优异的界面活性,表面活性剂已成为化学驱中备受关注的一种驱替物质。通过对基于微流控技术的表面活性剂驱油的最新实验研究进行调研,详细介绍了微流控技术研究表面活性剂强化驱油的系统组成,重点分析了表面活性剂乳化体系驱油机理和表面活性剂非乳化体系驱油机理。在表面活性剂乳化驱油体系中,针对不同油藏类型分析了表面活性剂的应用,包括微乳液体系的驱油机理和乳状液体系的驱油机理。在表面活性剂非乳化驱油体系中,详细分析了传统表面活性剂和生物表面活性剂以非乳化作用强化驱油的机理,并对微流控技术在油气田开发领域的应用进行了展望。     

一种双极板结构数字微流控芯片研制

基于介电润湿研制了一种将零电极布局为介电层表面的双极板结构数字微流控芯片.为了降低驱动电压并提高介电层的抗击穿能力,将介电层设计为Si3N4-SiO2层状复合结构.30 V直流电压作用下,成功实现了对0.5 μL去离子水微液滴的连续输运操控;且在100 V以内电压作用时,均未出现介电层击穿.实验结果表明所研制数字微流控芯片可行.