Real‐Time Template‐Assisted Manipulation of Nanoparticles in a Multilayer Nanofluidic Chip

Abstract

The ability to control dynamically the flow and placement of nanoscale particles and biomolecules in a biocompatible, aqueous environment will have profound impact in advancing the fields of nanoplasmonics, nanophotonics, and medicine. Here, an approach based on electrokinetic forces is demonstrated that enables dynamically controlled placement of nanoparticles into a predefined pattern. The technique uses an applied voltage to manipulate nanoparticles in a multilayer nanofluidic chip architecture. Simulations of the nanoparticles' motion in the nanofluidic chip validate the approach and are confirmed by experimental demonstration to produce uniform 200-nm-diameter spherical nanoparticle arrays. The results are important as they provide a new method that is capable of dynamically capturing and releasing nanoscale particles and biomolecules in an aqueous environment, which could lead to the creation of reconfigurable nanostructure patterns for nanoplasmonic, nanophotonic, biological sensing, and drug-delivery applications.

Optofluidic devices and applications in photonics, sensing and imaging

“…The emergence of electronics and fluidics has been playing an important role in research and everyday life, such as electrowetting 89 and liquid crystal display, 96 assisted nanoparticle assembling, 97 and nanopole DNA sequencing. [98][99][100] Fully integrated opto-electro-fluidics at the micro and nanometer level will definitely enable more accurate and faster controls with added functionalities.…”

Unexpected behaviors in molecular transport through size-controlled nanochannels down to the ultra-nanoscale

“…Studies leveraging microfabricated structures have suffered from the difficulty to fabricate nanofluidic systems with a high number of channels. As such, most investigations have relied on experimental results obtained with few channels and minute outputs 13 , 14 . More recent studies using carbon nanotubes, alumina, silicon, or titania nanoporous films have similarly suffered from widely fluctuating channel and pore dimensions, leading to significant uncertainties in the theoretical interpretation of results 15 – 17 .…”

Nanopore-Induced Spontaneous Concentration for Optofluidic Sensing and Particle Assembly

“…21, 23, 24 Solid-state nanopores have also been useful in DNA sequencing 28 and single-molecule spectroscopy. 29, 30 In such open-ended nanopore systems, samples are typically injected through the nanopores using pressure-driven flow, 21, 23 electrokinetic flow 31 or electric field gradient focusing. 32 These methods require external sources for generating pressure gradients, which can often damage the fragile membrane, or a bulky external power supply for creating an electric field.…”