PostprintThis is the accepted version of a paper published in Sensors and actuators. B, Chemical. This paper has been peer-reviewed but does not include the final publisher proof-corrections or journal pagination.Citation for the original published paper (version of record):Pardon, G., Ladhani, L., Sandström, N., Ettori, M., Lobov, G. et al. [Year unknown!] Aerosol sampling using an electrostatic precipitator integrated with a microfluidic interface. Sensors and actuators. B, Chemical AbstractIn this work, the development of a point-of-care (PoC) system to capture aerosol from litres of air directly onto a microfluidic lab-on-chip for subsequent analysis is addressed. The system involves an electrostatic precipitator that uses corona charging and electrophoretic transport to capture aerosol droplets onto a microfluidic air-to-liquid interface for downstream analysis. A theoretical study of the governing geometric and operational parameters for optimal electrostatic precipitation is presented. The fabrication of an electrostatic precipitator prototype and its experimental validation using a laboratory-generated aerosolized dye is described. Collection efficiencies were comparable to those of a state-of-the-art Biosampler impinger, with the significant advantage of providing samples that are at least 10 times more concentrated. Finally, we discuss the potential of such a system for breath-based diagnostics.

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Poly-3-hexylthiophene (P3HT) nanofi bers are 1D crystalline structures with semiconductor properties. When P3HT nanofi bers are dispersed in nonconducting solvent, they react to external alternate electric fi eld by aligning along the fi eld lines. This can be used to create layers of ordered nanofi bers and is referred to as alternating current poling method. P3HT nanofi bers with three different size distributions are fabricated, using self-assembly mechanism in marginal solvents, and used for the alignment studies. Anisotropic absorption of oriented 2 μm long nanofi bers exponentially increases with the magnitude of applied fi eld to a certain asymptotic limit at 0.8 V μm −1 , while 100-500 nm long nanofi bers respond to electric fi eld negligibly. Effective optical birefringence of oriented 2 μm long nanofi bers is calculated, based on the phase shift at 633 nm and the average layer thickness, to be 0.41. These results combined with further studies on real-time control over orientation of P3HT nanofi bers in liquid solution or host system are promising in terms of exploiting them in electroabsorptive and electrorefractive applications.

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This Letter reports the electro-optical (EO) effect of Poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl) (P3HT) nanofibers colloid in a polymer micro-fluidic EO cell. P3HT nanofibers are high aspect ratio semiconducting nanostructures, and can be collectively aligned by an external alternating electric field. Optical transmission modulated by the electric field is a manifestation of the electro-optical effect due to high inner crystallinity of P3HT nanofibers. According to our results, the degree of alignment reaches a maximum at 0.6 V/μm of electric field strength, implying a big polarizability value due to geometry and electrical properties of P3HT nanofibers. We believe that one-dimensional crystalline organic nanostructures have a large potential in EO devices due to their significant anisotropy, wide variety of properties, low actuation voltages, and opportunity to be tailored via adjustment of the fabrication process.