"Microfluidic Device and Protein Nanoarray"
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1. Portable Microfluidic Device for Detecting Bacteria in Water: A handy, portable device, capable of detecting a wide variety of bacteria in water, will be developed using conventional photolithographic microfabrication techniques. The proposed device will require only a single pipetting (loading a water sample) and everything else will be performed automatically inside the device. Bacteria in water will be detected in high accuracy and reliability since they will be identified through their genetic sequences. Small droplets (less than a microliter) of reagents and water samples will be generated automatically from reservoirs inside the device, and appropriate biological reactions will be induced by merging/mixing/heating the two droplets. Droplets will move along the device surface by electrowetting-on-dielectric (EWOD) principle. Reaction schemes can easily be modified by simply reprogramming the movement of droplets. By doing so, several different bioassay protocols can be performed simultaneously in a single device.
2. Protein Nanoarray from Gold Nanoparticles on E-Beam Nanopatterns: A new concept towards fabricating a protein nanoarray is proposed here, based on the self-assembly of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) onto the nanometer patterns generated by e-beam nanolithography. AuNPs, varying in size and surface hydrophobicity, will be added serially to the nanometer patterns consisting of hydrophobic polymers [e.g., poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)] and hydrophilic metals [e.g., silicon (Si) wafer], and will self-assemble based on their size, hydrophobicity or the potential applied to the system. Several different types of AuNPs will be conjugated to several different anti-bodies, leading to the fabrication of multi-component protein nanoarrays. Easier and faster multi-component patterning is expected with the proposed method than with the scanning probe lithography (SPL) techniques such as dip-pen nanolithography (DPN), since alignment and calibration are not required between each serial patterning. Single-molecule patterning, e.g., single antibody molecule per single array spot, is also possible through 1:1 conjugation of a AuNP and an antibody, enabling single molecule detection (SMD) thus eliminating complications of ensemble-averaged signals.