A Microfluidic Approach to Chemically Driven Assembly of Colloidal Particles at Gas–Liquid Interfaces

Abstract

Bubbling up: Dissolution of CO(2) bubbles in a suspension of colloidal particles chemically induces the assembly of particles on the surface of shrunken bubbles, and thus yields rapid continuous formation of a colloidal armor. This approach maintains the high colloidal stability of particles in bulk, has increased productivity, and allows the formation of bubbles with precisely controlled dimensions.

Porous polymer particles—A comprehensive guide to synthesis, characterization, functionalization and applications

“…It is the elaborate chip design that allowed researchers not only to miniaturize microchannel emulsification reactors and prepare narrowly monodisperse spherical beads but also to achieve unprecedented control over structure and shape of particles. This unique capability of control resulted in the realization of perfectly controlled multiple emulsions [136][137][138][139][140][141][142][143][144][145], Janus particles [146][147][148][149][150][151][152][153][154][155][156], regular nonspherical shapes [157][158][159][160][161][162][163][164][165][166] and even gas bubbles [167][168][169][170][171], almost all of which were impossible to achieve before.…”

Mimicking how plants control CO2 influx: CO2 activation of ion current rectification in nanochannels

“…41 After 10 min, the ion current remains~6.26 nA at 2 V and~− 15.64 nA at − 2 V; the gating ratio is~1.52, and the current rectification ratio remains~0. 40. We found that the pristine negatively charged carboxyl groups attract cations, resulting in current rectification.…”

“…Notably, bubbling with CO 2 changes the pH of solution from 7.1 to 4.0, which may influence the conductivity of microfluidic 40 or nanofluidic channels. To exclude the mechanism of protonation, we changed the pH to 4.0 without the bubbling of CO 2 .…”

Uniform yeast cell assembly via microfluidics

“…We adopted here a strategy used in the microfluidic formation of stable, monodisperse, colloid-armored microbubbles-using rapid CO 2 dissolution followed by its reactions in basic solutions that leads to bubble shrinkage, 36,37 and hence quickly increases surface coverage of the yeast cells as the total gas-aqueous interfacial area reduces. Fig.…”