Micro-bioreactors controlled with photonic ionogel actuators

Abstract

In the recent years, advances in micro-fluidic techniques for environmental applications have brought wide opportunities for improving of the capacity to monitor water quality. However, the development of fully integrated micro-fluidic devices capable of performing complex functions requires the integration of micro-valve with appropriate performance, since they are essential tools for the control and manipulation of flows in micro-channels.[1] Ionogels with incorporated spiropyran can be used as valves by photopolymerizing the gels in certain shapes. Depending on the ionic liquid, ionogels give the possibility of tuning several micro-valve actuation times and so independently control liquid flows within the channels under a common illumination source