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A low-cost self-dispersing method of droplet array generation enabled by a simple reusable mask for bioanalysis and bioassays

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Abstract

Discontinuous dewetting is an attractive technique that can produce droplet array of specific volume, geometry and at predefined location on a substrate. Droplet array has great potential in bioanalysis such as high-throughput live cell screening, digital PCR, and drug candidates. Here, we propose a self-dispersing droplet array generation method, which has advantages of low cost, simple operation, and easy large-area production ability. Droplet array of specific volumes was generated on a polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) substrate using a simple reusable polyimide (PI) adhesive mask. Experiment shows that the generated droplet array can be used to successfully capture single particles which obeys Poisson distribution in a high-throughput manner. Furthermore, a droplet-array sandwiching chip was created based on the self-dispersion method for rapid detection of human serum albumin (HSA) at wide range of 183–11,712 μg/mL with low reagent consumption of 2.2 μL, demonstrating its potential applications in convenient high-throughput bioanalysis and bioassays.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the USTC Experimental Center of Engineering and Material Sciences and the USTC center for Micro-and Nanoscale Research and Fabrication for technical support in microfabrication.

Funding

This research work has been supported in part by the Strategic Priority Research Program (C) of the CAS (No. XDC07040200), Joint Research Fund for Overseas Chinese Scholars and Scholars in Hong Kong and Macao (No. 51929501), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. WK5290000001), and National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51675505).

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Author notes

  1. Kai Liu and Yang Pan contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Precision Machinery & Precision Instrumentation, University of Science & Technology of China, Hefei, 230027, Anhui, China

    Kai Liu, Yang Pan, Xiaojie Wang, Tuo Ma, Baoqing Li & Jiaru Chu

  2. Key Laboratory of Precision Scientific Instrumentation of Anhui Higher Education Institutes, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230027, Anhui, China

    Kai Liu, Yang Pan, Xiaojie Wang, Tuo Ma, Baoqing Li & Jiaru Chu

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  1. Kai Liu
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Contributions

Kai Liu and Yang Pan designed the research and wrote the manuscript. Xiaojie Wang and Tuo Ma provided help for the establishment of the microfluidic nanoliter dispenser. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Baoqing Li.

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Liu, K., Pan, Y., Wang, X. et al. A low-cost self-dispersing method of droplet array generation enabled by a simple reusable mask for bioanalysis and bioassays. Anal Bioanal Chem 414, 1141–1149 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-021-03739-0

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