High-temperature high-pressure microfluidic system for rapid screening of supercritical CO foaming agents.

CO foam helps to increase the viscosity of CO flood fluid and thus improve the process efficiency of the anthropogenic greenhouse gas's subsurface utilization and sequestration. Successful CO foam formation mandates the development of high-performance chemicals at close to reservoir conditions, which in turn requires extensive laboratory tests and evaluations. This work demonstrates the utilization of a microfluidic reservoir analogue for rapid evaluation and screening of commercial surfactants (i.

Periodic harvesting of microalgae from calcium alginate hydrogels for sustained high-density production.

High-density biomass production is currently only realized in biofilm-based photobioreactors. Harvest yields of whole biofilms are self-limited by daughter-upon-parent cell growth that hinders light and leads to respiratory biomass losses. In this work, we demonstrate a sustainable multi-harvest approach for prolonged generation of high-density biomass.

Breathable waveguides for combined light and CO2 delivery to microalgae.

Suboptimal light and chemical distribution (CO2, O2) in photobioreactors hinder phototrophic microalgal productivity and prevent economically scalable production of biofuels and bioproducts. Current strategies that improve illumination in reactors negatively impact chemical distribution, and vice versa. In this work, an integrated illumination and aeration approach is demonstrated using a gas-permeable planar waveguide that enables combined light and chemical distribution.

Evanescent photosynthesis: exciting cyanobacteria in a surface-confined light field.

The conversion of solar energy to chemical energy useful for maintaining cellular function in photosynthetic algae and cyanobacteria relies critically on light delivery to the microorganisms. Conventional direct irradiation of a bulk suspension leads to non-uniform light distribution within a strongly absorbing culture, and related inefficiencies. The study of small colonies of cells in controlled microenvironments would benefit from control over wavelength, intensity, and location of light energy on the scale of the microorganism.