Size-based proteins separation using polymer-entrapped colloidal self-assembled nanoparticles on-chip

[Recent advances in microchip liquid chromatography]

微型化是现代分析仪器发展的重要趋势。微型化液相色谱仪器在提供与常规尺度液相色谱相同甚至更高分离效率的同时,可以有效减少溶剂和样品的消耗;在液相色谱-质谱联用中,低流速进样可以有效提高质谱离子源的离子化效率,提高质谱检测效率;对于极微量样品的分离,微型化的液相色谱可以有效减少样品稀释;液相色谱的微型化还有利于液相色谱仪器整体的模块化和集成化设计。芯片液相色谱是在微流控芯片上制备色谱柱并集成相应的流体控制系统和检测系统。芯片液相色谱是色谱仪器微型化的一种重要方式,受到学术界和产业界的普遍关注,但是这一方式也充满挑战。液相色谱微流控芯片需要在芯片基底材料、芯片色谱柱的结构设计、微流体控制技术、检测器技术等方面做出创新,使微流控芯片系统适配液相色谱分离技术的需要。目前芯片液相色谱领域面临的主要问题在于芯片基底材料的性质难以满足芯片液相色谱进一步微型化和集成化的需求;因此芯片液相色谱在未来的发展中需要着重关注新型微流控芯片基底材料的开发以及微流控芯片通道结构的统一设计。该文着重介绍了芯片液相色谱技术近年来的研究进展,并简要展示了商品化芯片色谱当前的发展情况。

Hydrogels in Electrophoresis: Applications and Advances

A hydrogel is a solid form of polymer network absorbed in a substantial amount of aqueous solution. In electrophoresis, hydrogels play versatile roles including as support media, sieving matrixes, affinity scaffolds, and compositions of molecularly imprinting polymers. Recently, the study of hydrogels has been advancing with unprecedented speed, and the application of hydrogels in separation science has brought new opportunities and possible breakthroughs. A good understanding about the roles and effects of the material is essential for hydrogel applications. This review summarizes the hydrogels that has been described in various modes of electrophoretic separations, including isoelectric focusing gel electrophoresis (IEFGE), isotachophoresis (ITP), gel electrophoresis and affinity gel electrophoresis (AGE). As microchip electrophoresis (ME) is one of the future trends in electrophoresis, thought provoking studies related to hydrogels in ME are also introduced. Novel hydrogels and methods that improve separation performance, facilitate the experimental operation process, allow for rapid analysis, and promote the integration to microfluidic devices are highlighted.

Colloidal Crystals from Microfluidics

Colloidal crystals are of great interest to researchers because of their excellent optical properties and broad applications in barcodes, sensors, displays, drug delivery, and other fields. Therefore, the preparation of high quality colloidal crystals in large quantities with high speed is worth investigating. After decades of development, microfluidics have been developed that provide new choices for many fields, especially for the generation of functional materials in microscale. Through the design of microfluidic chips, colloidal crystals can be prepared controllably with the advantages of fast speed and low cost. In this Review, research progress on colloidal crystals from microfluidics is discussed. After summarizing the classifications, the generation of colloidal crystals from microfluidics is discussed, including basic colloidal particles preparation, and their assembly inside or outside of microfluidic devices. Then, applications of the achieved colloidal crystals from microfluidics are illustrated. Finally, the future development and prospects of microfluidic-based colloidal crystals are summarized.

Colloidal lithography-based fabrication of highly-ordered nanofluidic channels with an ultra-high surface-to-volume ratio

This article shows a new strategy for the fabrication of nanofluidics based on nanoscale gaps in nanopillar arrays. Silicon nanopillar arrays are prepared in a designed position by combining conventional photolithography with colloidal lithography. The nanogaps between the pillars are used as nanochannels for the connection of two polydimethylsiloxane-based microchannels in microfluidics. The gap between neighbouring nanopillars can be accurately controlled by changing the size of initial colloidal spheres and by an etching process, which further determines the dimensions of the nanochannels. At a low ionic strength, the surface charge-governed ion transportation shows that the nanochannels possess the same electrokinetic properties as typical nanofluidics. Benefiting from the advantage of photolithography, large-area nanochannel arrays can be prepared in a parallel manner. Due to the perm-selectivity of the nanochannels, the nanofluidic chips can be used to preconcentrate low concentration samples. The large-area ordered nanostructures preserve their high-throughput property and large surface-to-volume ratio, which shows their great potential in the development of nanofluidics and their applications, such as in the separation of small molecules, energy conversion, etc.