Microfluidic Mass Production of Stabilized and Stealthy Liquid Metal Nanoparticles.

Shi‐Yang Tang,Dan Yuan,Thomas P Davis,Guolin Yun,Ruirui Qiao,Qianbin Zhao,Sheng Yan,Weihua Li

doi:10.1002/smll.201800118

Shi‐Yang Tang, Dan Yuan + Show 6 more

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https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.201800118

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Abstract

Functional nanoparticles comprised of liquid metals, such as eutectic gallium indium (EGaIn) and Galinstan, present exciting opportunities in the fields of flexible electronics, sensors, catalysts, and drug delivery systems. Methods used currently for producing liquid metal nanoparticles have significant disadvantages as they rely on both bulky and expensive high-power sonication probe systems, and also generally require the use of small molecules bearing thiol groups to stabilize the nanoparticles. Herein, an innovative microfluidics-enabled platform is described as an inexpensive, easily accessible method for the on-chip mass production of EGaIn nanoparticles with tunable size distributions in an aqueous medium. A novel nanoparticle-stabilization approach is reported using brushed polyethylene glycol chains with trithiocarbonate end-groups negating the requirements for thiol additives while imparting a "stealth" surface layer. Furthermore, a surface modification of the nanoparticles is demonstrated using galvanic replacement and conjugation with antibodies. It is envisioned that the demonstrated microfluidic technique can be used as an economic and versatile platform for the rapid production of liquid metal-based nanoparticles for a range of biomedical applications.

Highlights

This is the author manuscript accepted for publication and has undergone full peer review but has not been through the copyediting, typesetting, pagination and proofreading process, which may lead to differences between this version and the Version of Record
The surface of eutectic gallium indium (EGaIn) nanoparticles is relatively smooth in the absence of brushed polyethylene glycol (bPEG), as shown in the transmission electron microscope (TEM) images given in Fig. 2C taken for the nanoparticles obtained when using DI water as the suspending medium
Such bPEG coatings can be observed in the SEM images given in Fig. 2B, and were further evidenced by the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) spectrum obtained for the EGaIn nanoparticles shown in Fig. 2E; peaks of Ga 2p, In 3d, O 1s, C 1s, and S 2p were detected, and the peaks of C 1s and S 2p could be contributed by the bPEG polymer coating

Summary

Introduction

This is the author manuscript accepted for publication and has undergone full peer review but has not been through the copyediting, typesetting, pagination and proofreading process, which may lead to differences between this version and the Version of Record.

Results

Conclusion