Microfluidic desalination techniques and their potential applications

Roelofs, Susan Helena; Berg, Albert van den; Odijk, Mathieu

doi:10.1039/c5lc00481k

Cited by 36 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 61 publications

(193 reference statements)

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“…PDMS is highly fl exible and transparent [ 15 ] and it is the most used material in microfl uidics, as it is a cost-effective and easy-to-process alternative to the thermoplastic polymer usually employed. [ 16 ] Another well-known and highly benefi cial property of PDMS is its gas permeability. [ 17 ] This property was successfully exploited in several microfl uidic devices for biomedical applications, but it may represent a drawback in our particular application.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Floating, Flexible Polymeric Dye‐Sensitized Solar‐Cell Architecture: The Way of Near‐Future Photovoltaics

Bella

Lamberti

Bianco

et al. 2016

Adv Materials Technologies

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dedicated to the installation of photovoltaic panels (mainly silicon-based), usually outside large urban areas. This installation impacts on land designated for agriculture, green areas, and pastures, which has forcedly ignited the debate of land use for energy versus food; [ 4 ] the latter is a wellknown source of controversy in the biofuels fi eld.A brilliant and feasible solution to conserve precious land and water has recently been identifi ed in the so-called "offshore renewable technologies"; this concept is already well-established in the windenergy community. [ 5 ] In the same way, the concept of fl oating photovoltaics (FPV) has been proposed for commercial electricity generation, and a fi rst examination of the state of the art was proposed by Trapani et al. [ 6a ] FPV systems, usually installed in reservoirs, ponds, or canals used mainly for irrigation purposes, are an emerging option that may be attractive, particularly because of a couple of truly important advantages: the reduction in water evaporation from the reservoir and the decreased algal growth, [ 7 ] both due to the reduction in sunlight penetration through the water body. Another interesting aspect lies in the cooling effect offered by the surrounding water to the silicon panels, which often suffer from pronounced effi ciency decrease upon overheating. [ 8 ] FPV systems must also endure mechanical stress caused by fl ood-tides, strong waves, and wind: to this end, a few fl exible thin-fi lm architectures were proposed to generate electricity. [ 6a ] With respect to groundmounted PV stations, fl oating systems require different solutions to use and store their generated power. Two approaches were proposed: [ 6 ] The fi rst (and most common) involves the construction of fl oating structures in the proximity of the mainland, with an anchor cable that retains the photovoltaic plant and connects the solar panels to the storage unit or the grid on the mainland. The second approach (more futuristic, but a few prototypes are under construction) regards the design of "smart" fl oating farms/villages, [ 6b ] i.e., completely independent fl oating units designed to operate offshore. In these structures, lighting, air conditioning, and desalination equipment are solar powered.However, FPV technology is not at all mature, and several drawbacks can be outlined. First of all, FPV systems are generally large and opaque, which is highly detrimental to the aquatic fl ora and fauna living below the fl oating platforms; an environmental impact assessment that outlines the potential hazards for the ecosystem was not reported so far. The outward

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Floating, Flexible Polymeric Dye‐Sensitized Solar‐Cell Architecture: The Way of Near‐Future Photovoltaics

Bella

Lamberti

Bianco

et al. 2016

Adv Materials Technologies

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“…For unbuffered fluids, pH changes could also be a challenge for some sensors. Fortunately, microfluidic approaches have been developed for modulating salt concentration [32], and methods of buffering pH such as the addition of a buffer can be easily scaled down to a microfluidic device. Now that we have demonstrated a microfluidic solution for continuous, quantifiable, and simple preconcentration, next-generation lab-on-a-chip devices targeting high-impact applications only need to focus on the integration of specific sensing modalities, and if needed, these modular sample preprocessing steps.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Continuous, quantifiable, and simple osmotic preconcentration and sensing within microfluidic devices

et al. 2019

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Insurmountable detection challenges will impede the development of many of the next-generation of lab-on-a-chip devices (e.g., point-of-care and real-time health monitors). Here we present the first membrane-based, microfluidic sample preconcentration method that is continuous, quantifiable, simple, and capable of working with any analyte. Forward osmosis rapidly concentrates analytes by removing water from a stream of sample fluid. 10-100X preconcentration is possible in mere minutes. This requires careful selection of the semi-permeable membrane and draw molecule; therefore, the osmosis performance of several classes of membranes and draw molecules were systematically optimized. Proof-of-concept preconcentration devices were characterized based on their concentration ability and fouling resistance. In-silico theoretical modeling predicts the experimental findings and provides an engineering toolkit for future designs. With this toolkit, inexpensive ready-for-manufacturing prototypes were also developed. These devices provide broad-spectrum detection improvements across many analytes and sensing modalities, enabling next-generation lab-on-a-chip devices.

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“…8 In contrast, despite an inevitable sample loss, 24 the desalination prior to nESI MS identications is indispensable, otherwise the ionization suppression would be considerable due to the salts in the samples. Despite several microuidic desalination strategies, [25][26][27][28] desalination using zip tips is still one of the most useful approaches in proteomics. It is interesting to note that the stationary phase in both the SPE column and the zip tip is packed silica particles, 29 and this provides the feasibility of developing a universal micro-device that not only enriches analytes in metabolomics but also desalinates peptides in proteomics.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

On-line pre-treatment, separation, and nanoelectrospray mass spectrometric determinations for pesticide metabolites and peptides based on a modular microfluidic platform

et al. 2018

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In order to address time-consuming sample pre-treatment and separation prior to mass spectrometry (MS) identifications, highly integrated chips were developed, but damage to any functional unit in these chips would result in complete replacement. Herein, we propose a modular microfluidic platform comprising pre-treatment, liquid chromatography (LC) separation and nanoelectrospray ionization (nESI) chips for on-line enrichment, separation and nESI MS detection of pesticide metabolites and peptides. The pretreatment chip is applicable in enriching pyridalyl and its metabolites, and it achieves optimal desalination efficiency, 98.5%, for polymerase chain reaction products. Additionally, the LC separation chip was fully characterised, and it demonstrated satisfactory separation efficiency, quantification ability and pressure durability. Finally, the modular microfluidic platform was used to identify the peptides in trypsin-digested casein. Four additional peptides were identified, indicating an improvement in detection ability compared with using off-line zip tips coupled with MS investigations. Because the proposed modular platform can significantly reduce manual work, it would be a potential tool to achieve high throughput and automatic MS identifications with low sample consumptions. † Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: One PDF le provides supporting information for pre-treatment and separation modules congurations, instrumental setup of the modular platform, PCR experimental details, and identication of reserpine with the proposed platform. See

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Microfluidic desalination techniques and their potential applications

Cited by 36 publications

References 61 publications

Floating, Flexible Polymeric Dye‐Sensitized Solar‐Cell Architecture: The Way of Near‐Future Photovoltaics

Floating, Flexible Polymeric Dye‐Sensitized Solar‐Cell Architecture: The Way of Near‐Future Photovoltaics

Continuous, quantifiable, and simple osmotic preconcentration and sensing within microfluidic devices

On-line pre-treatment, separation, and nanoelectrospray mass spectrometric determinations for pesticide metabolites and peptides based on a modular microfluidic platform

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