Abstract
For decades, scientists have pursued the goal of performing automated reactions in a compact fluid processor with minimal human intervention. Most advanced fluidic handling technologies (e.g., microfluidic chips and micro-well plates) lack fluid rewritability, and the associated benefits of multi-path routing and re-programmability, due to surface-adsorption-induced contamination on contacting structures. This limits their processing speed and the complexity of reaction test matrices. We present a contactless droplet transport and processing technique called digital acoustofluidics which dynamically manipulates droplets with volumes from 1 nL to 100 µL along any planar axis via acoustic-streaming-induced hydrodynamic traps, all in a contamination-free (lower than 10−10% diffusion into the fluorinated carrier oil layer) and biocompatible (99.2% cell viability) manner. Hence, digital acoustofluidics can execute reactions on overlapping, non-contaminated, fluidic paths and can scale to perform massive interaction matrices within a single device.
Highlights
Scientists have pursued the goal of performing automated reactions in a compact fluid processor with minimal human intervention
In order to manipulate aqueous droplets along a horizontal plane without direct contact with the surface, a denser carrier layer of fluorinated oil is added to the LiNbO3 substrate, as an isolation layer upon which the droplets float, and as an actuator to drive droplets via the drag force induced by acoustic streaming
Surface acoustic waves (SAWs) are generated, and these propagate along the substrate surface and leak into the carrier oil as leaky surface acoustic waves (SAWs)
Summary
Scientists have pursued the goal of performing automated reactions in a compact fluid processor with minimal human intervention. Most advanced fluidic handling technologies (e.g., microfluidic chips and micro-well plates) lack fluid rewritability, and the associated benefits of multi-path routing and re-programmability, due to surface-adsorptioninduced contamination on contacting structures This limits their processing speed and the complexity of reaction test matrices. The rewritability (i.e., the ability to reuse the same fluidic path without cross contamination) enables the use of multi-path routing and test optimization with respect to time and space when applied to the testing of large matrices of experimental variables We label this advantage as “droplet rewritability” since there can be many different possible reagent combinations within a droplet which is enabled by reusable paths for transportation or mixing, even with a small array of acoustic transducers. It provides a compelling platform for the development of robust, rewritable, and digitally programmable fluidic processors
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