Sandia National Laboratories

Digital Microfluidics is a technique characterized by the manipulation of discrete droplets (~nL - mL) on an array of electrodes by the application of electrical fields. It is well-suited for carrying out rapid, sequential, miniaturized automated biochemical assays. Here, we report a platform capable of automating several proteomic processing steps.

This article details the construction of a multiplexed microneedle-based sensor. The device is being developed for in situ sampling and electrochemical analysis of multiple analytes in a rapid and selective manner. We envision clinical medicine and biomedical research uses for these microneedle-based sensors.

We have developed an automated cell culture and interrogation platform for micro-scale cell stimulation experiments. The platform offers simple, versatile, and precise control in cultivating and stimulating small populations of cells, and recovering lysates for molecular analyses. The platform is well suited to studies that use precious cells and/or reagents.

Gas sampling from laboratory-scale flames with online analysis of all species by mass spectrometry is a powerful method to investigate the complex mixture of chemical compounds occurring during combustion processes. Coupled with tunable soft ionization via synchrotron-generated vacuum-ultraviolet radiation, this technique provides isomer-resolved information and potentially fragment-free mass spectra.

We present a protocol to rapidly form giant polymer vesicles (pGVs). Briefly, polymer solutions are dehydrated on dried agarose films adhered to coverslips. Rehydration of the polymer films results in rapid formation of pGVs. This method greatly advances the preparation of synthetic giant vesicles for direct applications in biomimetic studies.

This protocol describes a process for fabricating lipid nanotube networks using gliding kinesin motility in conjunction with giant unilamellar lipid vesicles.

Sample preparation techniques are outlined with specific considerations for in situ ion irradiation TEM experiments. Ion species, energy, and fluence are discussed with methods for how to select and compute them. Finally, procedures for conducting an experiment are described and accompanied by the representative results.

Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) measures surface topography and differences in surface potential, while scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and associated spectroscopies can elucidate surface morphology, composition, crystallinity, and crystallographic orientation. Accordingly, the co-localization of SEM with KPFM can provide insight into the effects of nanoscale composition and surface structure on corrosion.