Over the past two decades, advances in droplet-based microfluidics have facilitated new approaches to process and analyze samples with unprecedented levels of precision and throughput. A wide variety of applications has been inspired across multiple disciplines ranging from materials science to biology. Understanding the dynamics of droplets enables optimization of microfluidic operations and design of new techniques tailored to emerging demands. In this review, we discuss the underlying physics behind high-throughput generation and manipulation of droplets. We also summarize the applications in droplet-derived materials and droplet-based lab-on-a-chip biotechnology. In addition, we offer perspectives on future directions to realize wider use of droplet microfluidics in industrial production and biomedical analyses.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/d3lc00729d | DOI Listing |
Biosens Bioelectron
January 2025
Department of Electronic, Electrical and Systems Engineering, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK; School of Electronics and Computer Science, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK; School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia. Electronic address:
Closed-channel microfluidic systems offer versatile on-chip capabilities for bioanalysis but often face complex fabrication and operational challenges. In contrast, free-boundary off-chip microfluidic platforms are relatively simple to fabricate and operate but lack the ability to perform complex tasks such as on-demand single-target sorting and encapsulation. To address these challenges, we develop an off-chip platform powered by a fluorescent-activated mechanical droplet sorting and production (FAM-DSP) system.
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January 2025
State Key Laboratory of Microbial Resources, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
The human body harbors diverse microbial communities essential for maintaining health and influencing disease processes. Droplet microfluidics, a precise and high-throughput platform for manipulating microscale droplets, has become vital in advancing microbiome research. This review introduces the foundational principles of droplet microfluidics, its operational capabilities, and wide-ranging applications.
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January 2025
Department of Chemistry, Beijing Key Laboratory of Microanalytical Methods and Instrumentation, Key Laboratory of Bioorganic Phosphorus Chemistry and Chemical Biology (Ministry of Education), Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, P. R. China.
Open droplet microfluidics is an emerging technology that generates, manipulates, and analyzes droplets in open configuration systems. Droplets function as miniaturized reactors for high-throughput analysis due to their compartmentalization and parallelization, while openness enables addressing and accessing the targeted contents. The convergence of two technologies facilitates the localization and intricate manipulation of droplets using external tools, showing great potential in large-scale chemical and biological applications, particularly in cell analysis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMicromachines (Basel)
December 2024
Queensland Micro- and Nanotechnology Centre, Griffith University, Nathan Campus, 170 Kessels Road, Brisbane, QLD 4111, Australia.
The evaporation dynamics of sessile droplets on re-entrant microstructures are critical for applications in microfluidics, thermal management, and self-cleaning surfaces. Re-entrant structures, such as mushroom-like shapes with overhanging features, trap air beneath droplets to enhance non-wettability. The present study examines the evaporation of a water droplet on silicon carbide (SiC) and silicon dioxide (SiO) re-entrant structures, focusing on the effects of material composition and solid area fraction on volume reduction, contact angle, and evaporation modes.
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December 2024
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Brigham Young University, 350 Engineering Building, Provo, UT 84602, USA.
Recent advancements in Electrowetting on Dielectric (EWOD) systems, such as simplified fabrication, low-voltage actuation, and the development of more reliable materials, are expanding the potential applications of electrowetting actuators. One application of EWOD actuators is in RF devices to enable dynamic reconfiguration and allow real-time adjustments to frequency and bandwidth. In this paper, a method is introduced to actuate a panel using EWOD forces.
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