Optical accessibility imporvements for the characterization of the nanopede

Although microfluidic droplet production is a well-developed field, high-yield production of monodisperse nanoscale droplets is still in its infancy. Here, we present improvements made on the Nanopede chip, presented last year by Tregouet et al., which aims to fill this vacancy in the field. By improving both the chip and the chip holder, imaging at high magnification was achieved, allowing us to observe the droplet generation in order to elucidate the generation mechanism

Optical accessibility improvements for the characterization of the nanopede

Although microfluidic droplet production is a well-developed field, high-yield production of monodisperse nanoscale droplets is still in its infancy. Here, we present improvements made on the Nanopede chip, presented last year by Tregouet et al., which aims to fill this vacancy in the field. By improving both the chip and the chip holder, imaging at high magnification was achieved, allowing us to observe the droplet generation in order to elucidate the generation mechanism

Diffusiophoresis of gold in silica driven by the nanometric interfacial layer

This paper describes a model to describe diffusiophoresis of a gold nanoparticle inside a solid silica substrate. The motion of the particle is powered by the flow of a liquid-silica interfacial layer due to a gradient of gold concentration inside this layer. This mechanism can help explain the experiments of de Vreede et al. [1] in which the authors observed that gold nanoparticles become engulfed into the solid silica substrate at high temperature. Indeed our model describes precisely their experimental measurement

Optical accessibility improvements for the characterization of the nanopede

Although microfluidic droplet production is a well-developed field, high-yield production of monodisperse nanoscale droplets is still in its infancy. Here, we present improvements made on the Nanopede chip, presented last year by Tregouet et al., which aims to fill this vacancy in the field. By improving both the chip and the chip holder, imaging at high magnification was achieved, allowing us to observe the droplet generation in order to elucidate the generation mechanism

Luminescence thermometry for: In situ temperature measurements in microfluidic devices

Temperature control for lab-on-a-chip devices has resulted in the broad applicability of microfluidics to, e.g., polymerase chain reaction (PCR), temperature gradient focusing for electrophoresis, and colloidal particle synthesis. However, currently temperature sensors on microfluidic chips either probe temperatures outside the channel (resistance temperature detector, RTD) or are limited in both the temperature range and sensitivity in the case of organic dyes. In this work, we introduce ratiometric bandshape luminescence thermometry in which thermally coupled levels of Er 3+ in NaYF 4 nanoparticles are used as a promising method for in situ temperature mapping in microfluidic systems. The results, obtained with three types of microfluidic devices, demonstrate that temperature can be monitored inside a microfluidic channel accurately (0.34 °C) up to at least 120 °C with a spot size of ca. 1 mm using simple fiber optics. Higher spatial resolution can be realized by combining luminescence thermometry with confocal microscopy, resulting in a spot size of ca. 9 μm. Further improvement is anticipated to enhance the spatial resolution and allow for 3D temperature profiling

Luminescence thermometry for: In situ temperature measurements in microfluidic devices

Temperature control for lab-on-a-chip devices has resulted in the broad applicability of microfluidics to, e.g., polymerase chain reaction (PCR), temperature gradient focusing for electrophoresis, and colloidal particle synthesis. However, currently temperature sensors on microfluidic chips either probe temperatures outside the channel (resistance temperature detector, RTD) or are limited in both the temperature range and sensitivity in the case of organic dyes. In this work, we introduce ratiometric bandshape luminescence thermometry in which thermally coupled levels of Er 3+ in NaYF 4 nanoparticles are used as a promising method for in situ temperature mapping in microfluidic systems. The results, obtained with three types of microfluidic devices, demonstrate that temperature can be monitored inside a microfluidic channel accurately (0.34 °C) up to at least 120 °C with a spot size of ca. 1 mm using simple fiber optics. Higher spatial resolution can be realized by combining luminescence thermometry with confocal microscopy, resulting in a spot size of ca. 9 μm. Further improvement is anticipated to enhance the spatial resolution and allow for 3D temperature profiling