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We introduce a laser-patterned tape as a master for replica moulding microfluidics in poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS). Normally, a laser is applied to scribe microchannels directly on poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) substrates. This direct engraving usually offers a faster turn-around time than conventional soft lithography but generates rough surfaces which perform poorly under phase-contrast microscopy imaging. Using a laser-patterned tape as the master template for replica-moulding microfluidics in PDMS, we combine the rapid turn-around time of laser ablation and relatively smooth surface finish of soft lithography. Hence, microfluidic devices suitable for optical microscopy imaging can be obtained within several hours.

The ''gold'' standard in the study of ionic currents across biological membranes is the Patch Clamp method. However, this is a slow, labor and skill intensive process. High throughput patch clamp devices are mainly chip-based. A major challenge in these miniaturized devices is the low rate of ''Gigaseal'' formation which is critical in the study of Single Channel effect. In a conventional patch clamp, a pipette moves and patches a fixed cell (cell-adhered patch) which is grown on the bottom of a Petri dish. In the chip-based case, the cells are in suspension and move towards the fixed patch clamp sites (cell-suspended patch). In this study, using the proven conventional patch clamp setup, we investigated the effect of the differences in the cell configurations between the convention patch clamp and cell-based patch clamp. It is shown that adhered cells (as used in the conventional setup) have a much higher rate of gigaseal formation as compared to the cells in suspension (as used in chip-based devices). We postulate that the arrangement of the cytoskeleton within the cell plays a major part in the formation of the gigaseal.

Oxygen plasma treatment has been used extensively to bond polydimethyl siloxane to polydimethyl siloxane or glass in the rapid prototyping of microfluidic devices. This study aimed to improve the bonding quality of polydimethyl siloxane to passivated silicon using oxygen plasma treatment, and also to evaluate the bonding quality. Four types of passivated silicon were used: phosphosilicate glass, undoped silicate glass, silicon nitride and thermally grown silicon dioxide. Bonding strength was evaluated qualitatively and quantitatively using manual peel and mechanical shear tests respectively. Through peel tests we found that the lowering of plasma pressure from 500 to 30 mTorr and using a plasma power between 20 to 60 W helped to improve the bond quality for the first three types of passivation. Detailed analysis and discussion were conducted to explain the discrepancy between the bonding strength results and peeling results. Our results suggested that polydimethyl siloxane can be effectively bonded to passivated silicon, just as to polydimethyl siloxane or glass.

As metal nanorods show much higher metal enhanced fluorescence (MEF) than metal nanospheres, microfluidic-based MEF is first explored with Ag nanorod (ND) arrays made by oblique angle deposition. By measuring the fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) solution sandwiched between the Ag NDs and a piece of cover slip, the enhancement factors (EFs) are found as 3.7 ± 0.64 and 6.74 ± 2.04, for a solution thickness at 20.8 μm and 10 μm, respectively. Because of the strong plasmonic coupling between the adjacent Ag NDs, only the emission of the fluorophores present in the three-dimensional NDs array gets enhanced. Thus, the corresponding effective enhancement factors (EEFs) are revealed to be relatively close, 259 ± 92 and 340 ± 102, respectively. To demonstrate the application of MEF in microfluidic systems, a multilayer of SiO2 NDs/Ag NDs is integrated with a capillary electrophoresis device. At a microchannel depth of 10 μm, an enhancement of 6.5 fold is obtained for amino acids separation detection. These results are very encouraging and open the possibility of MEF applications for the Ag ND arrays decorated microchannels. With the miniaturization of microfluidic devices, microfluidic-based MEF by Ag ND arrays will likely find more applications with further enhancement.

Among the electrophysiology techniques, the voltage clamp and its subsequent scaling to smaller mammalian cells, the so-called patch clamp, led to fundamental discoveries in the last century, revealing the ionic mechanisms and the role of single-ion channels in the generation and propagation of action potentials through excitable membranes (e.g. nerves and muscles). Since then, these techniques have gained a reputation as the gold standard of studying cellular ion channels owing to their high accuracy and rich information content via direct measurements under a controlled membrane potential. However, their delicate and skill-laden procedure has put a serious constrain on the throughput and their immediate utilization in the discovery of new cures targeting ion channels until researchers discovered 'lab-on-a-chip' as a viable platform for the automation of these techniques into a reliable high-throughput screening functional assay on ion channels. This review examines the innovative 'lab-on-a-chip' microtechnologies demonstrated towards this target over a period of slightly more than a decade. The technologies are categorically reviewed according to their considerations for design, fabrication, as well as microfluidic integration from a performance perspective with reference to their ability to secure G Ω seals (gigaseals) on cells, the norm broadly accepted among electrophysiologists for quality recordings that reflect ion-channel activity with high fidelity.

Surface migration of monocrystalline silicon has been applied to demonstrate self-formed cylindrical microcapillaries with diameters from 0.8 to 2.8 μm based on the microstructured substrate topography. The microcapillaries are entirely enclosed in silicon and can be conveniently etched to create fluidic access ports and microchannels for their subsequent integration into functional microfluidic devices. Moreover, the microcapillaries can be thermally oxidized through their access ports with silica walls remain intact upon release from surrounding silicon in an effort to enhance optical clarity. Straight microcapillaries and microcapillaries with perpendicular turns and crossings (junctions) have all been fabricated and validated for fluidic continuity with a fluorescein solution pumped through. The utility of the microcapillaries has been showcased on particle traps in which biological cells are probed for single-cell impedance spectroscopy. The approach disclosed, given its full compatibility with semiconductor device fabrication, offers great potential towards intelligent cell and molecule-based devices merging microelectronics and microfluidics. (Some figures may appear in colour only in the online journal)

This paper reports the formation and manipulation of ferrofluid droplets at a microfluidic T-junction in the presence of a permanent magnetic field. A small circular permanent magnet with a diameter of 3 mm is used to control the size of the ferrofluid droplets within a microfluidic device. In the absence of a magnetic field, the size of the ferrofluid droplets decreases linearly with the increase of the flow rate of the continuous phase. In the presence of a magnetic field, the size of the droplets depends on the magnetic field strength, magnetic field gradient and the magnetization of the ferrofluid. The magnetic field strength is adjusted in our experiment by the location of the magnet. The induced attractive magnetic force affects the droplet formation process leading to the change in the size of the formed droplets. Experimental observation also shows that the relative change in the size of the droplet depends on the flow rate of the continuous phase. Furthermore, the paper compares the evolving shape of the ferrofluid droplet during the formation process with and without the magnetic field.

In this paper, silicon-based devices with a step structure integrated at the flow-focusing junction were designed, fabricated and characterized for droplet generation. A two-step silicon etching method was demonstrated to create the step structure. During fabrication, undesirable spikes encountered at the step edge were removed by oxygen plasma ashing and silicon isotropic etching. With this method, two types of step profile (flat and triangular profiles) were fabricated. These two profiles were compared for their differences in droplet-generation behavior. The device with the flat-step profile was found to make larger droplets and at a lower frequency compared to the device with the triangular-step profile. Additionally, polydimethylsiloxane and glass were tested as capping materials for the devices and the impact of their surface characteristics (hydrophobic and hydrophilic) on the type of droplets (water-in-oil or oil-in-water) formed was investigated.

This paper reports experimental investigations on the droplet formation of deionized water and a nanofluid in a heat-induced microfluidic flow focusing device. Besides the effect of temperature, the effects of nanoparticle suspension (nanofluid) and the flow rate of aqueous fluid on the droplet formation and size manipulation were studied. At constant flow rates of the two liquids, three different droplet breakup regimes were observed and their transition capillary numbers as well as temperatures were identified. The heat generated by an integrated microheater changes the droplet formation process. Increasing the temperature enlarges the size of the droplets significantly. These results also demonstrate that the titanium oxide (15 nm)/deionized water-based nanofluid exhibits similar characteristics in droplet formation at different temperatures and any small change in the flow rate of this nanofluid has little impact on the size of the droplets formed in a flow focusing geometry. Accepted version