Size-Tunable Elasto-Inertial Sorting of Haematococcus pluvialis in the Ultrastretchable Microchannel

Abstract

Haematococcus pluvialis is a good source of astaxanthin, which reduces oxidation in the human body, treats inflammation, and slows the growth of breast and skin cancer cells. Since the size of H. pluvialis is often closely related to astaxanthin yield, size-based microalgal separation has far-reaching significance for high-value algae extraction and algal directed evolution. In this work, we report a novel size-tunable elasto-inertial sorting of H. pluvialis in the Ecoflex ultrastretchable microfluidic devices. Ecoflex microfluidic chips can deform and be flexible, bringing flexibility and stretchability to microchannels as well as new possibilities for large-scale modulation of channel geometry. Here, the effects of velocity, channel elongation, and particle size on the elasto-inertial migration of particles are systematically studied. We found that channel elongation has a strong regulating effect on particle focusing. In addition, we verified the continuous regulation of the sorting threshold of microalgal cells by stretching the channel, providing technical support for the extraction and directed evolution of high-yield microalgae.

Self-Adhesive, Biocompatible, Wearable Microfluidics with Erasable Liquid Metal Plasmonic Hotspots for Glucose Detection in Sweat

“…The encapsulated liquid Ga is flushed using 1 M NaOH to obtain the microchannel . We investigated the effects of the flushing flow rate on Ga removal (Figure d).…”

Actuation for flexible and stretchable microdevices

“…217 Recently, mechanical stretching has been employed to regulate an ultra-stretchable viscoelastic microfluidic device for size-tunable sorting of Haematococcus pluvialis . 218…”

High-Density Microporous Drainage-Integrating Sheath Flow Generator for Streamlining Microfluidic Cell Sorting Systems

“…In general, continuous particle/cell sorting techniques using microfluidics exploit differences in particle mobility in the lateral direction in laminar flow systems. Some of these techniques exert physical forces on cells as the driving forces for cell migration, as represented by dielectrophoresis, 11−13 acoustophoresis, 14−16 magnetophoresis, 17−19 and particle inertia raised by the flow, including Dean flow fractionation, 20 inertial sorting, 21 multiorifice fractionation, 22 and centrifugation-assisted methods. 23,24 Purely hydrodynamic sorting techniques have also been studied, include pinched flow fractionation (PFF), 25,26 deterministic lateral displacement (DLD), 27,28 hydrodynamic filtration (HDF), 29,30 hydrodynamic migration-based separation, 31,32 and lattice-channelbased sorting.…”

“…In general, continuous particle/cell sorting techniques using microfluidics exploit differences in particle mobility in the lateral direction in laminar flow systems. Some of these techniques exert physical forces on cells as the driving forces for cell migration, as represented by dielectrophoresis, − acoustophoresis, − magnetophoresis, − and particle inertia raised by the flow, including Dean flow fractionation, inertial sorting, multiorifice fractionation, and centrifugation-assisted methods. , Purely hydrodynamic sorting techniques have also been studied, include pinched flow fractionation (PFF), , deterministic lateral displacement (DLD), , hydrodynamic filtration (HDF), , hydrodynamic migration-based separation, , and lattice-channel-based sorting. − These hydrodynamic mechanisms utilize branching channels or periodically arranged obstacles to selectively separate large and/or less deformable particles from the original flow of the particle suspension. A crucial requirement common to most of these methods for effective particle sorting is the introduction of sheath flow.…”