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Optimization and development of a universal flow-based microfluidic gradient generator

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Abstract

Generation of concentration gradients of reactive molecules is of fundamental importance for many applications including biology, pharmaceutical and chemical engineering. By numerically simulating the flow behaviour, we reveal the possible factors that cause significant error in the gradients generated by the conventional universal microfluidic gradient generator (MGG) device reported previously. Based on these computational analyses, we optimize the geometrical design of the conventional 2-inlet MGG devices and improve the accuracy of the generated gradients. Moreover, we innovatively propose a 3-inlet MGG design showing desirable accuracy and versatility on creating various gradient profiles using the one single device. We further demonstrate our numerical simulation by fabricating the MGG devices by soft lithography and experimentally produce concentration gradients of diverse power functions. In general, the current study substantially improves the performance of universal MGG devices, which can serve as powerful tools for widespread applications in biology and chemistry.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 51373153 and 51503208), National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2015CB057301), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of China (No. DUT15RC(3)113), the National Science Foundation (DMR-1310266) and the Harvard Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (DMR-1420570).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027, People’s Republic of China

    Zhongbin Xu, Xing Huang & Pengfei Wang

  2. John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA

    Zhongbin Xu, Huanan Wang & David A. Weitz

  3. School of Life Science and Biotechnology, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, 116023, People’s Republic of China

    Huanan Wang

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  1. Zhongbin Xu
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  2. Xing Huang
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  3. Pengfei Wang
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  4. Huanan Wang
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  5. David A. Weitz
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Pengfei Wang or Huanan Wang.

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Xu, Z., Huang, X., Wang, P. et al. Optimization and development of a universal flow-based microfluidic gradient generator. Microfluid Nanofluid 20, 89 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10404-016-1749-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10404-016-1749-7

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