Planar devices can be made out of glass/silicon via etching processes or a polymer (like PDMS and NOA81) via soft- and photo-lithography techniques. We design and produce our bespoke polymer devices by using a microfabrication station for soft- and photo-lithography. We use such devices for droplet/particle fabrication, manipulation and processing.

For instance, we developed a microfluidic platform for the synthesis, characterisation and manipulation of ultralow interfacial tension oil-in-water droplet. The platform consisted of a glass (Dolomite) flow focusing junction device (see top figure) for the production of the droplets and a downstream PDMS device for the characterisation and optical manipulation of the droplets. 

We also developed single Psi-junction devices (see middle figure) for the synthesis of liposomes (see bottom figure) and the solute-driven manipulation of particles.

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References

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G. Bolognesi et al. (2015) Microfluidic generation of monodisperse ultra-low interfacial tension oil droplets in water. RSC advances, 5, 8114-8121.

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N. Singh et al. (2022) Composite Norland Optical Adhesive (NOA)/silicon flow focusing devices for colloidal particle manipulation and synthesis. Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects, 652,129808.

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