Microfluidic systems enable rapid diagnosis of diseases, biological analysis, drug screening, and high-precision materials synthesis. In spite of these remarkable abilities, conventional microfluidic systems are microfabricated monolithically on a single platform and their operations rely on bulky expensive external equipment. This restricts their applications outside of research laboratories, and prevents development and assembly of truly versatile and complex systems. Here, we present novel magnetorheological elastomer (MRE) microactuators including pumps and mixers using an innovative actuation mechanism without the need of delicate elements such as thin membranes. Modularized elements are realized using such actuators, which can be easily integrated and actuated using a single self-contained driving unit to create a modular, miniaturized, and robust platform. We investigate the performance of the microactuators via a series of experiments, and develop a proof-of-concept modular system to demonstrate the viability of the platform for self-contained applications. The presented MRE microactuators are small size, simple, and efficient, offering a great potential to significantly advance the current research on complex microfluidic systems.
The realization of automated chemical experiments by robots unveiled the prelude of artificial intelligent laboratory. Several AI-based systems or robots with specific chemical skills have been demonstrated, but conducting all-round scientific research remains challenging. Here, we present an all-round AI-Chemist equipped with scientific mind that is capable of performing all essential steps required for chemical research. Based on a service platform, the AI-Chemist is able to automatically read the literatures from cloud database and propose experimental plans accordingly. It can control a mobile robot in house or online to automatically execute the complete experimental process on 14 workstations, including synthesis, characterization, and performance test. The experimental data can be simultaneously analyzed by the computational brain of the AI-Chemist through machine learning and Bayesian optimization, allowing to propose new hypothesis for next iteration. The competence of the AI-Chemist has been scrutinized by three different chemical tasks. All-round AI-Chemists with scientific mind may dramatically change the landscape of the chemical laboratory in the future.
Abstract-A new wide-band microstrip phase inverter is reported in this paper. Interdigital striplines, defected ground and via holes are used to obtain 180 • phase shift. The structure is simple and can be realized with ordinary microwave integrated circuit (MIC) fabrication process. The bandwidth is enhanced largely. A lumped-element model of the phase shifter is devised. The fabricated phase inverter has a bandwidth of 105.6% (2.065-6.682 GHz), with 1 dB insertion loss and a phase deviation less than 10 • .
Abstract-A novel miniaturized micro-strip six-port junction is presented. The new structure effectively reduces the occupied area to 25% of the conventional six-port junction due to two open loaded stubs. The design is validated both by using momentum of Advanced Design System and by measurement.
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