Electrospinning and electrospray are both nano-scale material fabrication techniques, based on related phenomena of electrically charged fluid spray from a droplet of liquid. Material is dissolved in liquid, then a spray is generated by applying a high voltage, creating an electric field, between the fluid dispensing capillary and a grounded...
A novel approach for the colorimetric detection of creatinine in a paper/polycaprolactone hybrid microfluidic device using alkaline3,5-dinitrobenzoate (DNB) is described. The reaction parameters of reagent concentration, alkalinity, and analysis time are optimized for fast reaction times and high color yield. Microfluidic devices incorporating this assay are designed and fabricated to...
The detection of biomolecules is critical for clinical diagnostics but requires specialty labor and high cost. The use of microfluidic paper-based analytical devices (µPADs) for bioassays is simpler and cheaper but has low sensitivity. Improved immobilization of antibodies onto cellulose is demonstrated through surface functionalization with APTES and glutaraldehyde. The...
The concept of reducing laboratory operations in scale such that they fit on a microfluidic chip has been met with great enthusiasm. Lab-on-a-chip devices promise to be cost effective to operate due to reduced reagent consumption, have the potential to offer shorter analysis times due to their short path lengths,...
Two improvements to the established procedures for synthesis and response detection of ion-selective optical sensors (optodes) were introduced.
The first improvement addresses the drawback of organic dye (optode-localized chromoionophore) photobleaching. This positively impacts fluorescence response and allows for (1) direct measurement of hydrogen ion activity upon binding with the dye,...
The concept of reducing laboratory operations into microfluidic devices has been an attractive area of research for several decades. Due to several advantages of porous-media microfluidic devices including low mass, portability, power-free fluid transport, and the ability to store dried reagents in the porous structures, these devices show great promise...
A simple Janus-type membrane-based wicking microfluidic device fabricated on a polycaprolactone-filled glass microfiber membrane enables separation and collection of blood plasma or serum from whole blood. This device bridges the wicking and cut-capillary-based solution transport mechanisms in a single membrane. The initial portion of the device is fabricated using selective...
Gene synthesis is an important tool in molecular biology. However, the current
bench-top method of gene synthesis is a costly, time-intensive and reagent-consuming
process. Lab-on-chip technology has many benefits over current bench top methods.
Microchips consume smaller reagent volumes, are reusable and less expensive to make.
This thesis explores the...
Analytical chemistry is an area of chemistry primarily focused on the study and use of instruments for separation, identification, and quantification of an analyte of interest. Specifically, separation science within analytical chemistry often refers to the process of dividing mixtures into their small component parts based on differences in their...
Miniaturized and portable microfluidic analytical platforms have been widely explored in the broad field of chemical analysis. The concept of microfluidics offer a number of important advantages, including low reagent consumption, low-cost detection, high sample throughput, and shorter analysis time. Semiconductor nanocrystals or quantum dots have been extensively utilized in...