To meet stringent limit-of-detection specifications for low abundance target molecules, a relatively large volume of plasma is needed for many blood-based clinical diagnostics. Conventional centrifugation methods for plasma separation are not suitable for on-site testing or bedside diagnostics. Here, we report a simple, yet high-efficiency, clamshell-style, superhydrophobic plasma separator that is capable of separating a relatively large volume of plasma from several hundred microliters of whole blood (finger-prick blood volume). The plasma separator consists of a superhydrophobic top cover with a separation membrane and a superhydrophobic bottom substrate. Unlike previously reported membrane-based plasma separators, the separation membrane in our device is positioned at the top of the sandwiched whole blood film to increase the membrane separation capacity and plasma yield. In addition, the device’s superhydrophobic characteristics (i) facilitates the formation of well-defined, contracted, thin blood film with a high contact angle; (ii) minimizes biomolecular adhesion to surfaces; (iii) increases blood clotting time; and (iv) reduces blood cell hemolysis. The device demonstrated a “blood in-plasma out” capability, consistently extracting 65±21.5 μL of plasma from 200 μL of whole blood in less than 10 min without electrical power. The device was used to separate plasma from Schistosoma mansoni genomic DNA-spiked whole blood with a recovery efficiency of > 84.5 ± 25.8 %. The S. mansoni genomic DNA in the separated plasma was successfully tested on our custom-made microfluidic chip by using loop mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) method.

Adhesives are ubiquitous in daily life and industrial applications. They usually fall into one of two classes: strong but irreversible (e.g., superglues) or reversible/reusable but weak (e.g., pressure-sensitive adhesives and biological and biomimetic surfaces). Achieving both superstrong adhesion and reversibility has been challenging. This task is particularly difficult for hydrogels that, because their major constituent is liquid water, typically do not adhere strongly to any material. Here, we report a snail epiphragm-inspired adhesion mechanism where a polymer gel system demonstrates superglue-like adhesion strength (up to 892 N⋅cm−2) that is also reversible. It is applicable to both flat and rough target surfaces. In its hydrated state, the softened gel conformally adapts to the target surface by low-energy deformation, which is locked upon drying as the elastic modulus is raised from hundreds of kilopascals to ∼2.3 GPa, analogous to the action of the epiphragm of snails. We show that in this system adhesion strength is based on the material’s intrinsic, especially near-surface, properties and not on any near-surface structure, providing reversibility and ease of scaling up for practical applications.

Angle-independent coloured films with superhydrophobicity were fabricated from quasi-amorphous arrays of monodispersed fluorinated silica nanoparticles via one-step spray coating. The film exhibited a high contact angle (>150°) and a low roll-off angle (~2°) and the colour could be tuned to blue, green and moccasin by varying the size of the nanoparticles.

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Self-assembly of gold nanorods (NRs) in linear, polymer-like chains offers the ability to test and validate theoretical models of molecular polymerization. Practically, NR chains show multiple promising applications in sensing of chemical and biological species. Both areas of research can strongly benefit from the development of a quantitative tool for characterization of the structure of NR chains in the course of self-assembly, based on the change in ensemble-averaged optical properties of plasmonic polymers; however, quantitative correlation between the extinction spectra and the structural characteristics of NR chains has not been reported. Here, we report such a tool by a quantitatively correlating the red shift of the longitudinal surface plasmon band of gold NRs and the average aggregation number of NR chains. The generality of the method is demonstrated for NRs with different aspect ratios, for varying inter-rod distances in the chains, and for varying initial concentrations of NRs in solution. We modeled the extinction spectra of the NR chains by combining the theory of step-growth polymerization with finite-difference time-domain simulations and a resistor-inductor-capacitor model, and obtained agreement between the theoretical and experimental results. In addition to capturing quantitatively the ensemble physics of the polymerization, the proposed 'plasmonic counter' approach provides a real-time cost- and labor-efficient method for the characterization of self-assembly of plasmonic polymers.

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Structural color with wide viewing angles has enormous potential applications in pigment, ink formulation, displays, and sensors. However, colors obtained from colloidal assemblies with low refractive index contrast or without black additives typically appear pale. Here, we prepare polypyrrole (PPy) black coated polystyrene (PS) nanoparticles and demonstrate well-defined colors with high color contrast and wide viewing angles under ambient light. Depending on the loading of pyrrole during polymerization, PPy nanogranules of different sizes and coverages are grafted to the surface of PS nanoparticles. The bumpy particles can self-assemble into quasi-amorphous arrays, resulting in low angle dependent structure colors under ambient light. The color can be tuned by the size of the PS nanoparticles, and the presence of the PPy black on PS nanoparticles enhances the color contrast by suppressing incoherent and multiple scattering.