Utilizing a Paper-Based Platform for Oilfield Applications: Time-Resolved Fluorescence Imaging and Detection of Interwell Chemical Tracers.

Chemical tracers are indispensable tools for enhancing reservoir characterization and optimizing production processes in the oil and gas industry. Particularly, interwell water tracers provide key data for efficient water flood management and the improvement of production rates. However, the analysis of these water tracers within reservoir fluids is challenging, requiring laborious separation and extraction steps that often rely on complex instruments and skilled operators.

Toward Reservoir-on-a-Chip: Rapid Performance Evaluation of Enhanced Oil Recovery Surfactants for Carbonate Reservoirs Using a Calcite-Coated Micromodel.

Enhanced oil recovery (EOR) plays a significant role in improving oil production. Tertiary EOR, including surfactant flooding, can potentially mobilize residual oil after water flooding. Prior to the field deployment, the surfactant performance must be evaluated using site-specific crude oil at reservoir conditions.

Janus Graphene: Scalable Self-Assembly and Solution-Phase Orthogonal Functionalization.

Orthogonal functionalization of 2D materials by selective assembly at interfaces provides opportunities to create new materials with transformative properties. Challenges remain in realizing controllable, scalable surface-selective, and orthogonal functionalization. Herein, dynamic covalent assembly is reported that directs the functionalization of graphene surfaces at liquid-liquid interfaces.

Aligned Nanotopography Promotes a Migratory State in Glioblastoma Multiforme Tumor Cells.

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is an aggressive, Grade IV astrocytoma with a poor survival rate, primarily due to the GBM tumor cells migrating away from the primary tumor site along the nanotopography of white matter tracts and blood vessels. It is unclear whether this nanotopography influences the biomechanical properties (i.e.

Mechanical and Morphological Analysis of Cancer Cells on Nanostructured Substrates.

Cancer metastasis is a major cause of cancer-induced deaths in patients. Mimicking nanostructures of an extracellular matrix surrounding cancer cells can provide useful clues for metastasis. This paper compares the morphology, proliferation, spreading, and stiffness of highly aggressive glioblastoma multiforme cancer cells and normal fibroblast cells seeded on a variety of ordered polymeric nanostructures (nanopillars and nanochannels).

Fiber based optical tweezers for simultaneous in situ force exertion and measurements in a 3D polyacrylamide gel compartment.

Optical tweezers play an important role in biological applications. However, it is difficult for traditional optical tweezers based on objective lenses to work in a three-dimensional (3D) solid far away from the substrate. In this work, we develop a fiber based optical trapping system, namely inclined dual fiber optical tweezers, that can simultaneously apply and measure forces both in water and in a 3D polyacrylamide gel matrix.

Fibroblast extracellular matrix and adhesion on microtextured polydimethylsiloxane scaffolds.

The immediate physical and chemical surroundings of cells provide important biochemical cues for their behavior. Designing and tailoring biomaterials for controlled cell signaling and extracellular matrix (ECM) can be difficult due to the complexity of the cell-surface relationship. To address this issue, our research has led to the development of a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) scaffold with defined microtopography and chemistry for surface driven ECM assembly.

Bio-inspired cryo-ink preserves red blood cell phenotype and function during nanoliter vitrification.

Current red-blood-cell cryopreservation methods utilize bulk volumes, causing cryo-injury of cells, which results in irreversible disruption of cell morphology, mechanics, and function. An innovative approach to preserve human red-blood-cell morphology, mechanics, and function following vitrification in nanoliter volumes is developed using a novel cryo-ink integrated with a bioprinting approach.

Measuring the mechanical properties of living cells using atomic force microscopy.

Mechanical properties of cells and extracellular matrix (ECM) play important roles in many biological processes including stem cell differentiation, tumor formation, and wound healing. Changes in stiffness of cells and ECM are often signs of changes in cell physiology or diseases in tissues. Hence, cell stiffness is an index to evaluate the status of cell cultures.