Dresden 2006 – scientific programme

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CPP: Chemische Physik und Polymerphysik

CPP 24: POSTER Microfluidics

CPP 24.7: Poster

Thursday, March 30, 2006, 17:00–19:00, P2

Digital Microfluidics with Monodisperse Gel Emulsions — •Ralf Seemann, Craig Priest, and Stephan Herminghaus — MPI for Dynamics and Self-Organization, Bunsenstr. 10, D-37073 Göttingen, Germany

Microfluidics usually involves single phase liquids transported through microchannel networks. Instead of single phase flow, we have employed monodisperse emulsions to compartment liquids for microfluidic processing. If the volume fraction of the continuous phase is very low, the dispersed compartments (droplets) assemble into well-defined arrangements, analogous to foam. Hence, the position of a single droplet with a certain chemical content within an ensemble of droplets is fully determined while being transported through microfluidic channels. We demonstrate a one-step, in situ method for the production of monodisperse gel emulsions, suitable for microfluidic processing [1]. A variety of channel geometries is employed for positioning, sorting, dividing and exchanging droplets in ’lab-on-chip’ style processing. Furthermore, we have selectively induced coalescence to initiate chemical reactions between adjacent compartments. Our method is well-suited for applications in combinatorial chemistry, DNA sequencing, drug screening, and protein crystallization.

[1] C. Priest, S. Herminghaus, and R. Seemann, Appl. Phys. Lett. (in press)