Comparison of Photo-oxidation Reactions in Batch and a New Photosensitizer-Immobilized Microfluidic Device

A glass microfluidic device has been functionalized with photoactive porphyrins for performing reactions which are mediated by singlet molecular oxygen. The resulting device was used to investigate the photochemical oxidation of cholesterol, α-terpinene, and citronellol under flow conditions, and the results were compared with similar batch reactions

On-Chip Determination of C‑Reactive Protein Using Magnetic Particles in Continuous Flow

We demonstrate the application of a multilaminar flow platform, in which functionalized magnetic particles are deflected through alternating laminar flow streams of reagents and washing solutions via an external magnet, for the rapid detection of the inflammatory biomarker, C-reactive protein (CRP). The two-step sandwich immunoassay was accomplished in less than 60 s, a vast improvement on the 80–300 min time frame required for enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) and the 50 min necessary for off-chip magnetic particle-based assays. The combination of continuous flow and a stationary magnet enables a degree of autonomy in the system, while a detection limit of 0.87 μg mL^–1 makes it suitable for the determination of CRP concentrations in clinical diagnostics. Its applicability was further proven by assaying real human serum samples and comparing those results to values obtained using standard ELISA tests

Microfluidic fabrication and applications of microgels and hybrid microgels

Smart microgels have gained much attention because of their wide range of applications in the field of biomedical, environmental, nanotechnological and catalysis sciences. Most of the applications of microgels are strongly affected by their morphology, size and size distribution. Various methodologies have been adopted to obtain polymer microgel particles. Droplet microfluidic techniques have been widely reported for the fabrication of highly monodisperse microgel particles to be used for various applications. Monodisperse microgel particles of required size and morphology can be achieved via droplet microfluidic techniques by simple polymerization of monomers in the presence of suitable crosslinker or by gelation of high molecular weight polymers. This report gives recent research progress in fabrication, characterization, properties and applications of microgel particles synthesized by microfluidic methods.</p