This letter describes the fabrication of three-dimensional particulate-like hydrogel microstructures using a combination of soft lithography and volume expansion induced self-folding. Bilayer structures are produced by solvent casting and photocuring of liquid resins. They curl into three-dimensional (3D) structures upon contacting with water due to differential swelling of the two layers. The curvature can be controlled by adjusting the polymer composition of the primary swelling layer. A simple semiempirical mathematical model is used to predict this self-folding behavior. By designing the two-dimensional (2D) shapes of the bilayers, this technique can lead to complicated 3D microstructures.

Quantum confined materials have been extensively studied for photoluminescent applications. Due to intrinsic limitations of low biocompatibility and challenging modulation, the utilization of conventional inorganic quantum confined photoluminescent materials in bio-imaging and bio-machine interface faces critical restrictions. Here, we present aromatic cyclo-dipeptides that dimerize into quantum dots, which serve as building blocks to further self-assemble into quantum confined supramolecular structures with diverse morphologies and photoluminescence properties. Especially, the emission can be tuned from the visible region to the near-infrared region (420 nm to 820 nm) by modulating the self-assembly process. Moreover, no obvious cytotoxic effect is observed for these nanostructures, and their utilization for in vivo imaging and as phosphors for light-emitting diodes is demonstrated. The data reveal that the morphologies and optical properties of the aromatic cyclo-dipeptide self-assemblies can be tuned, making them potential candidates for supramolecular quantum confined materials providing biocompatible alternatives for broad biomedical and opto-electric applications.

Exosomes are nanoscale vesicles found in many bodily fluids which play a significant role in cell-to-cell signaling and contain biomolecules indicative of their cells of origin. Recently, microfluidic devices have provided the ability to efficiently capture exosomes based on specific membrane biomarkers, but releasing the captured exosomes intact and label-free for downstream characterization and experimentation remains a challenge. We present a herringbone-grooved microfluidic device which is covalently functionalized with antibodies against general and cancer exosome membrane biomarkers (CD9 and EpCAM) to isolate exosomes from small volumes of high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC) serum. Following capture, intact exosomes are released label-free using a low pH buffer and immediately neutralized downstream to ensure their stability. Characterization of captured and released exosomes was performed using fluorescence microscopy, nanoparticle tracking analysis, flow-cytometry, and SEM. Our results demonstrate the successful isolation of intact and label-free exosomes, indicate that the amount of both total and EpCAM+ exosomes increases with HGSOC disease progression, and demonstrate the downstream internalization of isolated exosomes by OVCAR8 cells. This device and approach can be utilized for a nearly limitless range of downstream exosome analytical and experimental techniques, both on and off-chip.

Particulate polymer microdevices are fabricated using protocols based on a transfer‐molding process that allows the controlled assembly of multiple materials to produce functional devices. Specifically, protocols for reservoir‐containing (see image; scale bar=100 μm), capsulelike, and self‐folding polymer microdevices are presented. The encapsulated materials are not exposed to high temperatures or caustic solutions, which is important in drug‐delivery applications.

In this work, the fluid flow and mass transfer due to the presence of an electric field in a rectangular channel is examined. We consider a mixture of water or another neutral solvent and a salt compound, such as sodium chloride, for which the ionic species are entirely dissociated. Results are produced for the case in which the channel height is much greater than the electric double layer (EDL) (microchannel) and for the case in which the channel height is of the order of the width of the EDL (nanochannel). Both symmetric and nonsymmetric velocity, potential, and mole fraction distributions are considered, unlike previous work on this problem. At small electrolyte concentrations, the Debeye-Huckel picture of the electric double layer is recovered; at larger concentrations, the Gouy-Chapman picture of the electric double emerges naturally. The numerical results presented here agree with analytical solutions of a singular perturbation analysis, which is valid as the channel height increases. In the symmetric case for the electroosmotic flow so induced, the velocity field and the potential are similar. In the asymmetric case corresponding to different wall potentials, the velocity and potential can be vastly different. The fluid is assumed to behave as a continuum, and the volume flow rate is observed to vary linearly with channel height for electrically driven flow, in contrast to pressure-driven flow, which varies as height cubed. This means that very large pressure drops are required to drive flows in small channels. However, useful volume flow rates may be obtained at a very low driving voltage.