A digital microfluidic platform based on a near-infrared light-responsive shape-memory micropillar array
- 26 January 2021
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) in Lab on a Chip
- Vol. 21 (6), 1131-1138
- https://doi.org/10.1039/d0lc01324b
Abstract
In this work, we developed a digital microfluidic platform based on a shape memory micropillar array responsive to near-infrared light, and the droplets were programmatically manipulated through light-induced micropillar deformation. The micropillar array was constructed on the surface of a poly(ethylene-vinyl acetate) copolymer, a shape memory polymer sensitive to near-infrared light. Before droplet manipulation, the micropillar array was kept temporarily tilted by heating and pressing. Under the irradiation of a near-infrared laser, the micropillar array achieved the transition from the temporary shape to the original shape. Temperature gradient and micropillar deformation caused by near-infrared light irradiation produce the driving force for droplet movement. The movement of the laser mounted on an electronically controlled displacement platform was controlled by a computer to achieve the programmed control of the droplets. Moreover, we demonstrated light-manipulated droplet movement and fusion, and achieved ascorbic acid detection using this digital microfluidic platform. In particular, the micropillar array chip is able to manipulate droplets in a wide range of 0.1 μL to 10 μL. The proposed digital microfluidic platform will broaden the application of digital microfluidic technology in analytical chemistry and biomedicine.Keywords
Funding Information
- National Natural Science Foundation of China (21675020, 21874015)
- Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (N2005024)
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