Monitoring and kinetics study of a single particle on a simple microfluidic chip.

A single-channel poly(dimethylsiloxane) microchip was developed for the desorption process monitoring and kinetics studies of a single particle. The microchannel consisting of a narrow section following a relatively wide part enabled particle introduction, transfer, and location. A microinfusion pump was employed to delivery eluting solution at a precise rate. Once the particle contacted with the eluting solution, the solute transferred from particle into eluting solution and would be detected by laser-induced fluorescence or a chemiluminescence detector. Desorption process of a single particle was sensitively monitored. Depending on the desorption curves obtained, kinetics studies were carried out. The sediment desorption process analyses of single resin particles and single active carbon particles were performed.