This work was supported by the Shenzhen fundamental research funding (Grant No. JCYJ 20150630170146829, JCYJ20160531195439665 and JCYJ20160317152359560). The authors would like to thank Prof. Y. Chen at the Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences for supports.

1. Mold Fabrication
<ol>
	<li>Design two photomasks using a drawing software. Describe the outline of microchannel structure and use two separate layers for mask 1 and 2 in the same drawing file, so ensure all connections between different channels. Print different layers independently to chrome plate on the glass by a vendor with 1 &#181;m resolution. Ensure that the photomasks are dark with transparent designed structures, as a negative polarity. 
	Note: The mask 1 contains the dispersed phase inlet channel and an orifice. The mask 2 contains the continuous phase inlet channel, the filter, and the outlet.</li>
	<li>In designated photolithography lab, clean a 3-inch diameter silicon wafer. Place the wafer on a spin coater, turn on the vacuum to affix the wafer to the spin chuck. Spin-coat 2-3 mL of SU-8 2025 negative photoresist onto the wafer for 10 s at 1,000 rpm, then 30 s at 3,000 rpm, providing the first layer thickness of 20 &#181;m.</li>
	<li>Soft bake on a 95 &#176;C hotplate for 6 min. After the coated wafer cools to room temperature (RT), expose it via the mask 1 under a collimated 15 mW/cm2, 365 nm of UV for 18 s. Post-exposure, bake on a 95 &#176;C&#160;hotplate for 6 min, then allow the wafer to cool to RT.</li>
	<li>Repeat the spin-coating process. Apply 2-3 mL of SU-8 2100 negative photoresist onto the wafer for 10 s at 1,000 rpm, then 30 s at 2,000 rpm, providing the second layer thickness of 130 &#181;m. After soft bake on a 95 &#176;C&#160;hotplate for 35 min, place the mask 2 on the second layer photoresist to expose for 30 s, which was aligned with the dispersed phase channel layer by a UV aligner. Post-exposure, bake on a 95 &#176;C&#160;hotplate for 7 min.</li>
	<li>Develop the wafer by immersing in a stirred bath of 50 mL of propylene glycol methyl ether acetate until features become clear on the wafer, then wash it with ethyl alcohol. Finally, place the wafer on the thermostatic platform for hard-baking for 2 h.</li>
</ol>
2. Semi-3D Flow-focusing Microfluidic Chip Fabrication
<ol>
	<li>Mix PDMS monomer and its curing agent in a slightly different weight ratio for the top and the bottom layers, typically 10:1 for the top layer, and 8:1 for the bottom layer, using automatic ointment agitator for 4 min. 
	Note: The top and bottom PDMS slabs are prepared in a slightly different ratio (10:1 and 8:1 respectively) of PDMS base to curing agent, enhancing the bonding strength. When 5:1 ratio is chosen for the bottom layer, the stiffer bottom PDMS slab makes alignment difficult and reduces bonding strength due to lack of flexibility. In addition, the thickness of the bottom PDMS slab is about 1 mm for adapting the working distance of microscope. The chip easily deforms under high pressure when 15:1 ratio is chosen.</li>
	<li>Pour the mixture into the completed silicon mold in a 90-mm petri dish and provide a thickness of 2~3 mm. Place it in a vacuum chamber and degas until all air bubbles disappear. Cure at 80 &#176;C&#160;for 1 h in an oven.</li>
	<li>Allow the PDMS to cool to RT. Use a scalpel to cut the device at least 3 mm away from the features and slowly peel off the PDMS layer from the silicon wafer. Punch the dispersed phase inlet, the continuous phase inlet and the outlet in the top PDMS layer using a 0.75 mm diameter punch.</li>
	<li>Clean the PDMS with adhesive tape to remove dust particles. Plasma treat both the top and bottom PDMS layers simultaneously for 2 min in a 300 W plasma cleaner. Place the top layer on the bottom layer surface and slide the surfaces relatively until features are aligned viewing through a stereo microscope.</li>
	<li>Cure the device in an oven at 120 &#176;C&#160;for one day to enhance the strength and complete bonding.</li>
</ol>
3. Reagents Preparation
<ol>
	<li>Prepare the solution ofthe continuous phase: Hexadecane by dissolving 18 vol% silicone-based nonionic surfactant.</li>
	<li>Prepare the solution of the dispersed phase: hydrophilic poly (ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA, MW 255,) containing 2-hydroxy-4&#39;-(2-hydroxyethoxy)-2-methylpropiophenone (98%, MW 224) at a concentration of 5 mg/mL as the photo-initiator, and rhodamine B (95%, MW 479.01) at a concentration of 1 mmol/L as the fluorescent dyes.</li>
	<li>Fill the 1 mL reservoirs of pneumatic pressure controller with the continuous phase. Fill the 200 &#181;L gel loading tip with the dispersed phase.</li>
</ol>
4. System Preparation
<ol>
	<li>Place the semi-3D microfluidic device on the stage of an inverted optical microscope, viewing with a high-speed camera.</li>
	<li>Connect the fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP) tube to the punched hole of the continuous phase by attaching a short stainless-steel tube, then insert the end of a gel loading tip into the punched hole of the dispersed phase. Insert a 20-cm length of FEP tube into the outlet in the device and place the end in a 15-mL centrifuge tube. 
	Note: The configuration of the system is illustrated in Figure 1.</li>
</ol>
5. Droplets Formation
<ol>
	<li>Place the device on the workbench of an inverted microscope, and ensure that the junction of different channels is roughly located in the position of the light source of the microscope. Focus the inverted microscope on a region that contains two-phases intersection, the orifice region, and the downstream channel.</li>
	<li>Set pressures of two phases using pneumatic pressure controller to deliver fluid slowly to the intersecting region, with 15 mbar for the dispersed phase and 30 mbar for the continuous phase. Wait 3 min for stabilization and equilibration until stable fluid flow carrying no bubbles and PDMS residue.</li>
	<li>Input the parameters on the user interface of the control software. Set the pressure of the dispersed phase as the base-level pressure of the system to a constant, for example, maintain it at 45 mbar. Increase the pressure of continuous phase until the emulsion breakup mode is changed from the jetting to the tip-streaming mode, then wait 5 min for stabilization.</li>
	<li>Place the FEP tube end connecting the outlet hole to the centrifuge tube to collect the droplets.</li>
</ol>
6. PEGDA Particles Collection and Characterization
<ol>
	<li>Fix the centrifuge tube aslant in the fixture. Obtain the PEGDA particles through the rapid solidification by UV exposure when liquid phase flow to the tube.</li>
	<li>When finishing the collecting process, sample and observe the PEGDA particles through the fluorescent microscope with 20X or 60X objects respectively. 
	Note.The digital fluorescent images captured by the camera are analyzed by a custom-made software routine. The image is first deconvolution based on the R-L algorithm17&#160;to eliminate the blurring effect of out-of-focusing light, and the sphere objects in the image are extracted based on the Canny edge detection method; finally, the diameter of each sphere object can be calculated using Hough transformation18. As a result, mean and standard deviation of the diameters of sphere objects in each image can be estimated.</li>
</ol>

<ol>
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Y. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Surface-functionalizable+amphiphilic+nanoparticles+for+pickering+emulsions+with+designer+fluid-fluid+interfaces.">Surface-functionalizable amphiphilic nanoparticles for pickering emulsions with designer fluid-fluid interfaces.</a> RSC Adv. 6, 39926-39932 (2016).</li><li>Zhang, L., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Microfluidic+synthesis+of+rigid+nanovesicles+for+hydrophilic+reagents+delivery.">Microfluidic synthesis of rigid nanovesicles for hydrophilic reagents delivery.</a> Angewandte Chemie. 54, 3952-3956 (2015).</li><li>Shembekar, N., Chaipan, C., Utharala, R., Merten, C. 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The authors have nothing to disclose.

The generation of droplets in the flow-focusing mode using 2D and semi-3D microfluidic device has previously been developed in a variety of reports8,9,15,19,20,21. In these systems, the aqueous liquid that could not be solidified was chosen as the dispersed phase, such as deionized water8,<s...

Droplet-based microfluidic systems have the ability to produce highly monodisperse droplets from nanometer to micrometer diameter range1 and hold great potential in the high-throughput drug discovery2, synthesis of biomolecules3,4, and the diagnostic testing5. Due to the unique advantages of smaller droplets, such as the greater surface area to volume ratio and the large-scale applications with consuming a few microliters of sample, the technology has attracted extensive interest in a broad range of fields. The emulsification of two immiscible liquids is one of the most typical methods to generate droplet. In previous reports in the field, researchers have developed a variety of different droplet formation geometries, including T-junction, flow-focusing and co-flowing geometries. In the T-junction geometry, the dispersed phase is delivered through a perpendicular channel into the main channel, in which the continuous phase flows6,7. In the typical two-dimensional (2D) flow-focusing8,9&#160;geometry, the dispersed phase flow is sheared from the lateral; and for the co-flowing geometry10,11, on the other hand, a capillary introducing the dispersed phase flow is placed co-axially inside a bigger capillary for co-flowing geometry, so that the dispersed phase flow is sheared from all directions.
The droplet size is controlled by adjusting channel size and flow rate ratio, and the minimum size produced by co-flowing or T-junction is limited to dozens of micrometers. For flow-focusing droplet formation system, three modes of droplet breakup form by adjusting the pressure ratio of two-phase and surfactant concentration, including the dripping regime, the jetting regime, and tip-streaming15. Tip-streaming mode is also called thread formation, and the appearance of a thin the thread drawing out from the tip of dispersed phase flow cone will be observed.Previous studies have demonstrated droplets less than a few micrometers could be generated though tip-streaming process in 2D or semi-3D flow-focusing device8,12. However, as an aqueous solution containing a very low concentration of PEGDA was used as the dispersed phase, the shrinkage ratio of PEGDA particles was about 60% of the original droplets in diameter after photo-polymerization, while PEGDA without dilution as the dispersed phase led to unstable tip-streaming mode12. Interfacial tension is an important parameter of emulsion process and it will decrease due to the addition of the surfactant into the continuous phase liquid,leading to decrease in droplet size, higher generation frequency13, highly curved tip, and preventing instability14. Furthermore, when the bulk surfactant concentration is much higher than the critical micelle concentration, the interfacial tension is approximately invariable in the saturated state13 and the tip-streaming mode can occur15.
Based on the above observations, in this paper, we developed a facile approach for PEGDA droplets generation using a semi-3D flow-focusing microfluidic device, fabricated by multi-layer soft lithography method. Different from the typical 2D flow-focusing device, the semi-3D flow-focusing device has a shallow dispersed phase channel and a deep continuous phase channel, so that the dispersed phase can be sheared from up and down beside lateral. This provides larger adjusting range for flow-focusing mode by reducing the energy and pressure required for droplet breakup. Different from the previous report12, the dispersed phase is pure PEGDAcontaining photo-initiator, making sure that the shrinkage ratio of PEGDA particles is lower than 10%16; and the continuous phase is the mixture of hexadecane dissolving with a high bulk concentration of the silicone-based nonionic surfactant. Size-controllable and uniform droplets were produced by adjusting the pressure ratio of two phases. The diameter of the droplets changes from 80 &#181;m to 1 &#181;m as the droplet breakup processes changes from the jetting mode to tip-streaming mode. In addition, the PEGDA particle was synthesized through photo-polymerization process under UV exposure. The droplet generation microfluidic system with ease of fabrication will provide more possibilities for biological applications.

<table><tbody><tr><td>Silicon wafer</td><td>Huashi Co., Ltd</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>SU-8 2025, 2100</td><td>Microchem Co.</td><td>Y111069</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>SU-8 developer</td><td>Microchem Co.</td><td>Y020100</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Chromium mask</td><td>Qingyi Precision Mask Making Co., Ltd</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>polydimethylsiloxane(PDMS)</td><td>Dow Corning</td><td>Sylgard 184</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA)</td><td>Sigma</td><td>26570-48-9</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>2-hydroxy-40-(2-hydroxyethoxy)-2-methylpropiophenone</td><td>TCI</td><td>H1361-5G</td><td>photoinitiator</td></tr><tr><td>Hexadecane</td><td>Sigma</td><td>544-76- 3</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>ABIL EM 90</td><td>CHT</td><td>144243-53-8</td><td>surfactants</td></tr><tr><td>Rhodamine B</td><td>Aladdin</td><td>81-88-9</td><td>fluorescent dye</td></tr><tr><td>Spin Coater</td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Lithography machine</td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Automatic ointment agitator</td><td>Thinky</td><td>ARV-310</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Oven</td><td>BluePard</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Optical microscope</td><td>OLYMPUS</td><td>IX71</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>High-speed camera</td><td>Hamamatsu, Japan</td><td>ORCA-flash</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>MAESFLO Microfluidic Fluid Control System</td><td>FLUIGENT</td><td>MFCS-EZ</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>UV lamp</td><td>FUTANSI</td><td></td><td>365 nm UV light, 8000 MW/CM&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt;</td></tr></tbody></table>

generation of size-controlled poly (ethylene glycol) diacrylate droplets via semi-3-dimensional flow focusing microfluidic devices

Uniform and size-controllable poly (ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) droplets could be produced via the flow focusing process in a microfluidic device. This paper proposes a semi-three-dimensional (semi-3D) flow-focusing microfluidic chip for droplet formation. The polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) chip was fabricated using the multi-layer soft lithography method. Hexadecane containing surfactant was used as the continuous phase, and PEGDA with the ultraviolet (UV) photo-initiator was the dispersed phase. Surfactants allowed the local surface tension to drop and formed a more cusped tip which promoted breaking into tiny micro-droplets. As the pressure of dispersed phase was constant, the size of droplets became smaller with increasing continuous phase pressure before dispersed phase flow was broken off. As a result, droplets with size variation from 1 &#181;m to 80 &#181;m in diameter could be selectively achieved by changing the pressure ratio in two inlet channels, and the average coefficient of variation was estimated to be below 7%. Furthermore, droplets could turn into micro-beads by UV exposure for photo-polymerization. Conjugating biomolecules on such micro-beads surface have many potential applications in the fields of biology and chemistry.

The semi-3D flow-focusing microfluidic chip was fabricated using multi-layer soft lithography techniques as described above. The fabrication process and results for master mold in the protocolare shown in Figure 2. The first layer, which provides a 65 &#181;m wide channel for introducing the dispersed phase and a 50 &#181;m wide orifice (Figure 2a), is 20 &#181;m in thickness. An addition 130 &#181;m thickness la...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Generation of Size-controlled Poly ethylene Glycol Diacrylate Droplets via Semi-3-Dimensional Flow Focusing Microfluidic Devices at JoVE.com

Generation of Size-controlled Poly ethylene Glycol Diacrylate Droplets via Semi-3-Dimensional Flow Focusing Microfluidic Devices

Here, we present a protocol to illustrate the fabrication processes and verifying experiments of a semi-three-dimensional (semi-3D) flow-focusing microfluidic chip for droplet formation.

Generation of Size-controlled Poly (ethylene Glycol) Diacrylate Droplets via Semi-3-Dimensional Flow Focusing Microfluidic Devices

Uniform and size-controllable poly (ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) droplets could be produced via the flow focusing process in a microfluidic device. ...

generation-size-controlled-poly-ethylene-glycol-diacrylate-droplets

Research

JoVE Journal

Engineering

7.7K Views.  Tsinghua University. Hier presenteren we een protocol ter illustratie van de fabricage processen en de verifiërende experimenten van een semi-three-dimensional (semi-3D) stroom-focusing microfluidic chip voor druppel vorming.

Video: Generation of Size-controlled Poly ethylene Glycol Diacrylate Droplets via Semi-3-Dimensional Flow Focusing Microfluidic Devices

Fluorescence detection methods for microfluidic droplet platforms

The development of microfluidic platforms for performing chemistry and biology has in large part been driven by a range of potential benefits that accompany system miniaturisation. Advantages include the ability to efficiently process nano- to femoto- liter volumes of sample, facile integration of functional components, an intrinsic predisposition towards large-scale multiplexing, enhanced analytical throughput, improved control and reduced instrumental footprints.1
In recent years much interest has focussed on the development of droplet-based (or segmented flow) microfluidic systems and their potential as platforms in high-throughput experimentation.2-4 Here water-in-oil emulsions are made to spontaneously form in microfluidic channels as a result of capillary instabilities between the two immiscible phases. Importantly, microdroplets of precisely defined volumes and compositions can be generated at frequencies of several kHz. Furthermore, by encapsulating reagents of interest within isolated compartments separated by a continuous immiscible phase, both sample cross-talk and dispersion (diffusion- and Taylor-based) can be eliminated, which leads to minimal cross-contamination and the ability to time analytical processes with great accuracy. Additionally, since there is no contact between the contents of the droplets and the channel walls (which are wetted by the continuous phase) absorption and loss of reagents on the channel walls is prevented.
Once droplets of this kind have been generated and processed, it is necessary to extract the required analytical information. In this respect the detection method of choice should be rapid, provide high-sensitivity and low limits of detection, be applicable to a range of molecular species, be non-destructive and be able to be integrated with microfluidic devices in a facile manner. To address this need we have developed a suite of experimental tools and protocols that enable the extraction of large amounts of photophysical information from small-volume environments, and are applicable to the analysis of a wide range of physical, chemical and biological parameters. Herein two examples of these methods are presented and applied to the detection of single cells and the mapping of mixing processes inside picoliter-volume droplets. We report the entire experimental process including microfluidic chip fabrication, the optical setup and the process of droplet generation and detection.

Droplet-based microfluidic platforms are promising candidates for high throughput experimentation since they are able to generate picoliter, self-compartmentalized vessels inexpensively at kHz rates. Through integration with fast, sensitive and high resolution fluorescence spectroscopic methods, the large amounts of information generated within these systems can be efficiently extracted, harnessed and utilized.

The development of microfluidic platforms for performing chemistry and biology has in large part been driven by a range of potential benefits that ...

Bioengineering

Capillary-based Centrifugal Microfluidic Device for Size-controllable Formation of Monodisperse Microdroplets

Here, we demonstrate a simple method for the rapid production of size-controllable, monodisperse, W/O microdroplets using a capillary-based centrifugal microfluidic device. W/O microdroplets have recently been used in powerful methods that enable miniaturized chemical experiments. Therefore, developing a versatile method to yield monodisperse W/O microdroplets is needed. We have developed a method for generating monodisperse W/O microdroplets based on a capillary-based centrifugal axisymmetric co-flowing microfluidic device. We succeeded in controlling the size of microdroplets by adjusting the capillary orifice. Our method requires equipment that is easier-to-use than with other microfluidic techniques, requires only a small volume (0.1-1 &#181;l) of sample solution for encapsulation, and enables the production of hundreds of thousands number of W/O microdroplets per second. We expect this method will assist biological studies that require precious biological samples by conserving the volume of the samples for rapid quantitative analysis biochemical and biological studies.

Here, we demonstrate a simple production method for size-controllable, monodisperse, water-in-oil (W/O) microdroplets using a capillary-based centrifugal microfluidic device. This method requires only a small sample volume and enables high-yield production. We expect this method will be useful for rapid biochemical and cellular analyses.

Here, we demonstrate a simple method for the rapid production of size-controllable, monodisperse, W/O microdroplets using a capillary-based centrifugal ...

Double Emulsion Generation Using a Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) Co-axial Flow Focus Device

Double emulsions are useful in a number of biological and industrial applications in which it is important to have an aqueous carrier fluid. This paper presents a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microfluidic device capable of generating water/oil/water double emulsions using a coaxial flow focusing geometry that can be fabricated entirely using soft lithography. Similar to emulsion devices using glass capillaries, double emulsions can be formed in channels with uniform wettability and with dimensions much smaller than the channel sizes. Three dimensional flow focusing geometry is achieved by casting a pair of PDMS slabs using two layer soft lithography, then mating the slabs together in a clamshell configuration. Complementary locking features molded into the PDMS slabs enable the accurate registration of features on each of the slab surfaces. Device testing demonstrates formation of double emulsions from 14 &#181;m to 50 &#181;m in diameter while using large channels that are robust against fouling and clogging.

Double Emulsion Generation Using a Polydimethylsiloxane PDMS Co-axial Flow Focus Device

Microfluidic double emulsions generation typically involves devices with patterned wettability or custom-fabricated glass components. Here we describe the fabrication and testing of an all polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) double emulsion generator that does not require surface treatment or complicated fabrication processes, and is capable of producing double emulsions down to 14 &#181;m.

Double emulsions are useful in a number of biological and industrial applications in which it is important to have an aqueous carrier fluid. This paper ...

A Femtoliter Droplet Array for Massively Parallel Protein Synthesis from Single DNA Molecules

Advances in spatial resolution and detection sensitivity of scientific instrumentation make it possible to apply small reactors for biological and chemical research. To meet the demand for high-performance microreactors, we developed a femtoliter droplet array (FemDA) device and exemplified its application in massively parallel cell-free protein synthesis (CFPS) reactions. Over one million uniform droplets were readily generated within a finger-sized area using a two-step oil-sealing protocol. Every droplet was anchored in a femtoliter microchamber composed of a hydrophilic bottom and a hydrophobic sidewall. The hybrid hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic structure and the dedicated sealing oils and surfactants are crucial for stably retaining the femtoliter aqueous solution in the femtoliter space without evaporation loss. The femtoliter configuration and the simple structure of the FemDA device allowed minimal reagent consumption. The uniform dimension of the droplet reactors made large-scale quantitative and time-course measurements convincing and reliable. The FemDA technology correlated the protein yield of the CFPS reaction with the number of DNA molecules in each droplet. We streamlined the procedures about the microfabrication of the device, the formation of the femtoliter droplets, and the acquisition and analysis of the microscopic image data. The detailed protocol with the optimized low running cost makes the FemDA technology accessible to everyone who has standard cleanroom facilities and a conventional fluorescence microscope in their own place.

The overall goal of the protocol is to prepare over one million ordered, uniform, stable, and biocompatible femtoliter droplets on a 1 cm2 planar substrate that can be used for cell-free protein synthesis.

Advances in spatial resolution and detection sensitivity of scientific instrumentation make it possible to apply small reactors for biological and ...

Chemistry

Fabricating Degradable Thermoresponsive Hydrogels on Multiple Length Scales via Reactive Extrusion, Microfluidics, Self-assembly, and Electrospinning

While various smart materials have been explored for a variety of biomedical applications (e.g., drug delivery, tissue engineering, bioimaging, etc.), their ultimate clinical use has been hampered by the lack of biologically-relevant degradation observed for most smart materials. This is particularly true for temperature-responsive hydrogels, which are almost uniformly based on polymers that are functionally non-degradable (e.g., poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) or poly(oligoethylene glycol methacrylate) (POEGMA)). As such, to effectively translate the potential of thermoresponsive hydrogels to the challenges of remote-controlled or metabolism-regulated drug delivery, cell scaffolds with tunable cell-material interactions, theranostic materials with the potential for both imaging and drug delivery, and other such applications, a method is required to render the hydrogels (if not fully degradable) at least capable of renal clearance following the required lifetime of the material. To that end, this protocol describes the preparation of hydrolytically-degradable hydrazone-crosslinked hydrogels on multiple length scales based on the reaction between hydrazide and aldehyde-functionalized PNIPAM or POEGMA oligomers with molecular weights below the renal filtration limit. Specifically, methods to fabricate degradable thermoresponsive bulk hydrogels (using a double barrel syringe technique), hydrogel particles (on both the microscale through the use of a microfluidics platform facilitating simultaneous mixing and emulsification of the precursor polymers and the nanoscale through the use of a thermally-driven self-assembly and cross-linking method), and hydrogel nanofibers (using a reactive electrospinning strategy) are described. In each case, hydrogels with temperature-responsive properties similar to those achieved via conventional free radical cross-linking processes can be achieved, but the hydrazone cross-linked network can be degraded over time to re-form the oligomeric precursor polymers and enable clearance. As such, we anticipate these methods (which may be generically applied to any synthetic water-soluble polymer, not just smart materials) will enable easier translation of synthetic smart materials to clinical applications.

Protocols are described for the fabrication of degradable thermoresponsive hydrogels based on hydrazone cross-linking of polymeric oligomers on the bulk scale, microscale, and nanoscale, the latter for preparation of both gel nanoparticles and nanofibers.

While various smart materials have been explored for a variety of biomedical applications (e.g., drug delivery, tissue engineering, bioimaging, etc.), ...

Image-guided, Laser-based Fabrication of Vascular-derived Microfluidic Networks

This detailed protocol outlines the implementation of image-guided, laser-based hydrogel degradation for the fabrication of vascular-derived microfluidic networks embedded in PEGDA hydrogels. Here, we describe the creation of virtual masks that allow for image-guided laser control; the photopolymerization of a micromolded PEGDA hydrogel, suitable for microfluidic network fabrication and pressure head-driven flow; the setup and use of a commercially available laser scanning confocal microscope paired with a femtosecond pulsed Ti:S laser to induce hydrogel degradation; and the imaging of fabricated microfluidic networks using fluorescent species and confocal microscopy. Much of the protocol is focused on the proper setup and implementation of the microscope software and microscope macro, as these are crucial steps in using a commercial microscope for microfluidic fabrication purposes that contain a number of intricacies. The image-guided component of this technique allows for the implementation of 3D image stacks or user-generated 3D models, thereby allowing for creative microfluidic design and for the fabrication of complex microfluidic systems of virtually any configuration. With an expected impact in tissue engineering, the methods outlined in this protocol could aid in the fabrication of advanced biomimetic microtissue constructs for organ- and human-on-a-chip devices. By mimicking the complex architecture, tortuosity, size, and density of in vivo vasculature, essential biological transport processes can be replicated in these constructs, leading to more accurate in vitro modeling of drug pharmacokinetics and disease.

This protocol outlines the implementation of image-guided, laser-based hydrogel degradation to fabricate vascular-derived, biomimetic microfluidic networks embedded in poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) hydrogels. These biomimetic microfluidic systems may be useful for tissue engineering applications, generation of in vitro disease models, and fabrication of advanced "on-a-chip" devices.

This detailed protocol outlines the implementation of image-guided, laser-based hydrogel degradation for the fabrication of vascular-derived microfluidic ...

Glass-Based Devices to Generate Drops and Emulsions

In this manuscript, three different step-by-step protocols to generate highly monodisperse emulsion drops using glass-based microfluidics are described. The first device is built for the generation of simple drops driven by gravity. The second device is designed to generate emulsion drops in a coflowing scheme. The third device is an extension of the coflowing device with the addition of a third liquid that acts as an electric ground, allowing the formation of electrified drops that subsequently discharge. In this setup, two of the three liquids have an appreciable electrical conductivity. The third liquid mediates between these two and is a dielectric. A&#160;voltage difference applied between the two conducting liquids creates an electric field that couples with hydrodynamic stresses of the coflowing liquids, affecting the jet and drop formation process. The addition of the electric field provides a path to generate smaller drops than in simple coflow devices and for generating particles and fibers with a wide range of sizes.

Here, a protocol to manufacture glass-based microfluidic devices used for generating highly monodisperse emulsions with controlled drop size is presented.

In this manuscript, three different step-by-step protocols to generate highly monodisperse emulsion drops using glass-based microfluidics are described. ...

Multi-step Variable Height Photolithography for Valved Multilayer Microfluidic Devices

Microfluidic systems have enabled powerful new approaches to high-throughput biochemical and biological analysis. However, there remains a barrier to entry for non-specialists who would benefit greatly from the ability to develop their own microfluidic devices to address research questions. Particularly lacking has been the open dissemination of protocols related to photolithography, a key step in the development of a replica mold for the manufacture of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) devices. While the fabrication of single height silicon masters has been explored extensively in literature, fabrication steps for more complicated photolithography features necessary for many interesting device functionalities (such as feature rounding to make valve structures, multi-height single-mold patterning, or high aspect ratio definition) are often not explicitly outlined. 
Here, we provide a complete protocol for making multilayer microfluidic devices with valves and complex multi-height geometries, tunable for any application. These fabrication procedures are presented in the context of a microfluidic hydrogel bead synthesizer and demonstrate the production of droplets containing polyethylene glycol (PEG diacrylate) and a photoinitiator that can be polymerized into solid beads. This protocol and accompanying discussion provide a foundation of design principles and fabrication methods that enables development of a wide variety of microfluidic devices. The details included here should allow non-specialists to design and fabricate novel devices, thereby bringing a host of recently developed technologies to their most exciting applications in biological laboratories.

Multilayer microfluidic devices often involve the fabrication of master molds with complex geometries for functionality. This article presents a complete protocol for multi-step photolithography with valves and variable height features tunable to any application. As a demonstration, we fabricate a microfluidic droplet generator capable of producing hydrogel beads.

Microfluidic systems have enabled powerful new approaches to high-throughput biochemical and biological analysis. However, there remains a barrier to ...

Generation of Dynamical Environmental Conditions using a High-Throughput Microfluidic Device

Mimicking in vivo environmental conditions is crucial for in vitro studies on complex life machinery. However, current techniques targeting live cells and organs are either highly expensive, like robotics, or lack nanoliter volume and millisecond time accuracy in liquid manipulation. We herein present the design and fabrication of a microfluidic system, which consists of 1,500 culture units, an array of enhanced peristaltic pumps and an on-site mixing modulus. To demonstrate the capacities of the microfluidic device, neural stem cell (NSC) spheres are maintained in the proposed system. We observed that when the NSC sphere is exposed to CXCL in day 1 and EGF in day 2, the round-shaped conformation is well maintained. Variation in the input order of 6 drugs causes morphological changes to the NSC sphere and the expression level representative marker for NSC stemness (i.e., Hes5 and Dcx). These results indicate that dynamic and complex environmental conditions have great effects on NSC differentiation and self-renewal, and the proposed microfluidic device is a suitable platform for high throughput studies on the complex life machinery.

We present a microfluidic system for high throughput studies on complex life machinery, which consists of 1500 culture units, an array of enhanced peristaltic pumps and an on-site mixing modulus. The microfluidic chip allows for the analysis of the highly complex and dynamic micro-environmental conditions in vivo.

Mimicking in vivo environmental conditions is crucial for in vitro studies on complex life machinery. However, current techniques targeting live cells and ...

Setup of a Microfluidic Device for Combinatorial Plug  Production

Bilayer Microfluidic Device for Combinatorial Plug Production

Droplet microfluidics is a versatile tool that allows the execution of a large number of reactions in chemically distinct nanoliter compartments. Such systems have been used to encapsulate a variety of biochemical reactions - from incubation of single cells to implementation of PCR reactions, from genomics to chemical synthesis. Coupling the microfluidic channels with regulatory valves allows control over their opening and closing, thereby enabling the rapid production of large-scale combinatorial libraries consisting of a population of droplets with unique compositions. In this paper, protocols for the fabrication and operation of a pressure-driven, PDMS-based bilayer microfluidic device that can be utilized to generate combinatorial libraries of water-in-oil emulsions called plugs are presented. By incorporating software programs and microfluidic hardware, the flow of desired fluids in the device can be controlled and manipulated to generate combinatorial plug libraries and to control the composition and quantity of constituent plug populations. These protocols will expedite the process of generating combinatorial screens, particularly to study drug response in cells from cancer patient biopsies.

Author Spotlight: Integrating Computational and Experimental Approaches in Precision Oncology

The fabrication of a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-based bilayer device for the production of combinatorial libraries in water-in-oil emulsions (plugs) is presented here. The necessary hardware and software required to automate plug production are detailed in the protocol, and the production of a quantitative library of fluorescent plugs is also demonstrated.

Droplet microfluidics is a versatile tool that allows the execution of a large number of reactions in chemically distinct nanoliter compartments. Such ...

Generation of Size-controlled Poly (ethylene Glycol) Diacrylate Droplets via Semi-3-Dimensional Flow Focusing Microfluidic Devices

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