1. Microfluidic valve with zero dead volume and negligible back-flow for droplets handling
- Author
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Jean-Louis Viovy, Stéphanie Descroix, Marco Serra, Davide Ferraro, I. Ferrante, Laboratoire Physico-Chimie Curie [Institut Curie] (PCC), Institut Curie [Paris]-Institut de Chimie du CNRS (INC)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire d'Electrochimie et de Chimie Analytique (LECA), Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Chimie de Paris - Chimie ParisTech-PSL (ENSCP), and Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
- Subjects
Materials science ,Materials Chemistry Metals and Alloys ,Microfluidics ,Mechanical engineering ,3D printing ,02 engineering and technology ,Microvalves ,Droplet microfluidics ,Microfabrication ,Soft-lithography ,Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials ,Instrumentation ,Condensed Matter Physics ,Surfaces, Coatings and Films ,2506 ,Electrical and Electronic Engineering ,01 natural sciences ,Soft lithography ,Coatings and Films ,Electronic ,Materials Chemistry ,Optical and Magnetic Materials ,[SPI.NANO]Engineering Sciences [physics]/Micro and nanotechnologies/Microelectronics ,ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS ,Backflow ,business.industry ,010401 analytical chemistry ,Metals and Alloys ,021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology ,Dead volume ,0104 chemical sciences ,Surfaces ,Mechanical stability ,0210 nano-technology ,business - Abstract
Droplet microfluidics allows the implementation of several biochemical and bioanalytical protocols in microfluidic devices. However, this integration typically requires the use of microfluidic valves, which allow the control of different operations on the same channels network. Unfortunately, the valves commercially available are almost exclusively suitable for-single phase flow, and only one valve system compatible with multi-phase systems has been presented so far in the literature. We present here a new pinch-like valve that withstands high pressures (tested up to 4 bar), allows droplet manipulation and combines the advantages of conventional pinch valves regarding the absence of dead volume, while making negligible the backflow generated (less than 2 nL). The conception and design of the presented valve, based on numerical simulations, is performed by an optimized microfabrication strategy, combining PDMS soft-lithography and 3D printing technologies. The valves had been tested regarding their mechanical stability and proving their capability of allowing droplets passing through them, without any perturbation. Finally, the very small back-flow volume generated during the actuation, has been exploited for various applications in droplets microfluidics, like droplet handling, droplet-on-demand generation and sorting.
- Published
- 2018
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