Lab on a Chip最新文献

{"title":"Microchannel-confined droplet-based electricity generator for biomechanical energy conversion and sensing","authors":"Jianwu Wang, Yonghui Zhang, Xiaokai Li, Zhengyu Li, Yuheng Li, Jiahao Zhang, Xin Liu, Jing Sun and Huanxi Zheng","doi":"10.1039/D5LC00662G","DOIUrl":"10.1039/D5LC00662G","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) are positioned as a critical sustainable power solution for harvesting low-frequency mechanical energy or sensing. Although solid–solid contact-based TENGs can provide sustainable power to diminish external battery reliance and enhance portability and operational longevity, suboptimal energy output at low-frequency excitation, irreversible material damage under long-term operation and inadequate energy supply remain a challenge. Solid–liquid contact-based TENGs present an alternative approach, but rigid and bulky configurations hinder their integration toward wearable devices and the development of real applications. To address these challenges, we propose a flexible microchannel-confined droplet-based electricity generator (MC-DEG). By enclosing droplet chains in a flexible microfluidic channel and employing a dual-drain electrode structure (inspired by transistor design), the device achieves dual-peak electrical output that efficiently releases electrostatic induction charge accumulation during liquid reciprocation. This design enhances charge collection efficiency by &gt;75% compared to single-electrode systems. The MC-DEG's output is tunable <em>via</em> structural parameters (<em>e.g.</em>, source electrode dimensions) and external excitation. Its miniaturized closed system enables wearable integration, eliminating external droplet dependency while simultaneously enabling biomechanical energy conversion (<em>e.g.</em>, human motion) and monitoring physiological signals, which provides a potential strategy for the development of emerging wearable application devices.</p>","PeriodicalId":85,"journal":{"name":"Lab on a Chip","volume":" 19","pages":" 4934-4942"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144906325","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A long-term universal impedance flow cytometry platform empowered by adaptive channel height and real-time clogging-release strategy","authors":"Trisna Julian, Tao Tang, Naomi Tanga, Yang Yang, Yoichiroh Hosokawa and Yaxiaer Yalikun","doi":"10.1039/D5LC00673B","DOIUrl":"10.1039/D5LC00673B","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Impedance flow cytometry is a widely used label-free technique for single-cell analysis; however, its limited sensitivity and lack of universality have hindered its ability to replace conventional flow cytometry. In this study, we propose an adaptive microfluidic channel platform that dynamically adjusts the channel height to improve both measurement performance and system versatility. We found that reducing the channel height by one-third effectively decreases the distance between particles and the sensing electrodes, resulting in an average 3.2-fold amplification of the impedance signal. This approach also reduces signal variability by half, thereby enhancing measurement precision. Enhanced particle discrimination was demonstrated using a mixture of yeast cells and 6 μm beads, while robust cell phenotyping was achieved across multiple cell lines, including A549, C6, and NIH/3T3. By integrating this adaptive channel with an object detection algorithm, we successfully created a self-optimizing system that utilizes intentional, temporary clogging as a strategy to regulate channel height. These findings underscore the potential for a universal, high-performance impedance flow cytometry platform that simple, clog-resistant, and adaptable for a wide range of biomedical applications.</p>","PeriodicalId":85,"journal":{"name":"Lab on a Chip","volume":" 20","pages":" 5268-5282"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144906326","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Salvinia-inspired architectures for enhancing interface stability and mass transfer in microchannels","authors":"Jinlong Xu, Yongjian Li and Haosheng Chen","doi":"10.1039/D5LC00599J","DOIUrl":"10.1039/D5LC00599J","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Mass transfer in conventional microchannels primarily relies on wall-mediated diffusion or is compromised by dynamic instability at free interfaces, which limits interphase transport efficiency. Inspired by the hierarchical trichomes of <em>Salvinia molesta</em> leaves, we designed composite architectures featuring spatially selective hydrophilic modification <em>via in situ</em> polydopamine (PDA) grafting, which enhance mass transfer while maintaining interface stability in microchannels. High-speed imaging was used to capture the dynamic evolution of interfacial morphology, revealing failure behaviours consistent with theoretical analysis. Cyclic pressure loading experiments confirmed that the modified architecture exhibited strong interfacial pinning, increasing the stable operating pressure range by over 20% and doubling the tolerable disturbance frequency. By establishing mass transfer models, we demonstrated that this robust stability enabled efficient gas–liquid mass transfer and verified its potential for liquid–liquid extraction applications, especially under dynamic pulsatile flow conditions, where the mass transfer efficiency was improved by more than 15% compared to static conditions. This work presents an interfacial engineering strategy that combines structural design with surface wettability control, with broad potential in biological and chemical separation, gas–liquid reactions, and multiphase microfluidics.</p>","PeriodicalId":85,"journal":{"name":"Lab on a Chip","volume":" 20","pages":" 5189-5202"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144936599","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Correction: Magnetically controllable 3D microtissues based on magnetic microcryogels","authors":"Wei Liu, Yaqian Li, Siyu Feng, Jia Ning, Jingyu Wang, Maling Gou, Huijun Chen, Feng Xu and Yanan Du","doi":"10.1039/D5LC90080H","DOIUrl":"10.1039/D5LC90080H","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Correction for ‘Magnetically controllable 3D microtissues based on magnetic microcryogels’ by Wei Liu <em>et al.</em>, <em>Lab Chip</em>, 2014, <strong>14</strong>, 2614–2625, https://doi.org/10.1039/C4LC00081A.</p>","PeriodicalId":85,"journal":{"name":"Lab on a Chip","volume":" 18","pages":" 4815-4816"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2025/lc/d5lc90080h?page=search","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144936631","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Kappa(κ)Chip: a modular microfluidic device for analyte screening using parallelized assays and a multiple shear rate approach","authors":"Jose A. Wippold, Mark T. Kozlowski, Joseph La Fiandra, Jessica Boetticher, Alison Grafton, Justin P. Jahnke and Joshua A. Orlicki","doi":"10.1039/D5LC00349K","DOIUrl":"10.1039/D5LC00349K","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Polymers are ubiquitous in the modern world, but many have low surface energies, making it difficult to engineer adhesive interactions with them. The large sequence space afforded by biology, along with its ability to evolve novel solutions to challenging problems, makes exploring bioinspired materials for novel adhesives attractive. However, the discovery of biologically-inspired adhesive modalities demands the development of high-throughput screening methods that use only small amounts of material, making microfluidics an ideal solution. In this work, we present the development of a novel microfluidic chip, the kappa(κ)Chip, which represents a significant leap in testing efficiency. The parallelized design of the kappa(κ)Chip enables 24 simultaneous adhesion tests from a single-input stream. This drastically reduces experimental time and reagent consumption, allowing for more comprehensive datasets and the ability to quickly compare the performance of multiple proteins against different substrates—a capability unavailable with current single-test platforms. The chip was used to evaluate the adhesive properties of fungal hydrophobin proteins engineered for display on the surface of cells, using the adhesion of the cells as a proxy for the ability of hydrophobins to serve as an adhesive. The device combines microfabrication, microfluidics, material sciences, synthetic biology, multiphysics simulation and ML in a unique way to enable the discovery of strong biological adhesives. The rapid screening capability of the kappa(κ)Chip facilitates an informed rank-ordering of potential binding motifs or sequences against arbitrary substrates. Moreover, this platform holds potential for applications in investigating cell adhesion in tissue and organ environments, as well as in studies of marine fouling.</p>","PeriodicalId":85,"journal":{"name":"Lab on a Chip","volume":" 21","pages":" 5439-5449"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2025/lc/d5lc00349k?page=search","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144901288","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Mine-on-a-chip: megascale opportunities for microfluidics in critical materials and minerals recovery","authors":"Wen Song","doi":"10.1039/D5LC00387C","DOIUrl":"10.1039/D5LC00387C","url":null,"abstract":"<p >The rising supply gap for metal resources essential to energy, defense, and consumer technologies—the critical minerals and materials—poses one of the most pressing bottlenecks toward energy and national security. A suite of challenges ranging from resource definition to extraction and refining, however, undergird the economic feasibility and cradle-to-grave sustainability of these technologies. Myriad opportunities exist to leverage the unique advantages of microfluidics – low sample and reagent consumption, parallel processing, and rapid and low-cost testing – to understand and improve existing approaches for materials characterization, extraction, chemical analyses, reagent screening, separation. This perspective identifies key gaps and opportunities in securing the supply of minerals and materials critical to energy sustainability and aims to galvanize the lab on a chip (LoC) community in this crucial research.</p>","PeriodicalId":85,"journal":{"name":"Lab on a Chip","volume":" 18","pages":" 4461-4472"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2025/lc/d5lc00387c?page=search","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144901068","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A hybrid flowing water-based energy generator inspired by a rotatable waterwheel","authors":"Hongbo Wang, Hangchen Liu, Yuxin Song, Xuezhi Qin, Yang Li, Kairui Tang, Huanxi Zheng, Wanghuai Xu, Zuankai Wang and Baoping Zhang","doi":"10.1039/D5LC00476D","DOIUrl":"10.1039/D5LC00476D","url":null,"abstract":"<p >The ever-increasing global demand for low-carbon energy underscores the urgency of water energy harvesting. Despite intensive progress, achieving continuous and efficient water energy harvesting—particularly from abundant, distributed, and low-frequency water flows such as rain, streams, and rivers—remains a critical challenge. Herein, inspired by the classical waterwheel that spatially decouples the gravitational force of flowing water into orthogonal directions for continuous rotation, we report a hybrid, rotatable flowing water-based energy generator (R-FEG) capable of continuous and efficient water energy harvesting at both low and high frequencies. The R-FEG device consists of transistor-like multilayer blades to harvest the kinetic energy of water at the liquid–solid interface <em>via</em> the bulk effect which is favorable at low frequency, and a magnetic rotor on a symmetrical blade array to harvest rotational energy <em>via</em> the electromagnetic effect at high frequency. As a result, the R-FEG device enables self-sustained operation in a wide range of flow rates, collectively delivering an enhanced power of 1131.3 μW at a typical flow rate of 2.0 L min<small>⁻¹</small>. Moreover, the R-FEG exhibits potential versatility as a battery-independent power solution for environmental sensing and outdoor electronics by harvesting water energy across fluctuating flow regimes. This work provides a prospective prototype for water flow energy harvesting, paving a new avenue for scalable, maintenance-free power solutions for applications in remote, offshore, and distributed water energy harvesting.</p>","PeriodicalId":85,"journal":{"name":"Lab on a Chip","volume":" 20","pages":" 5232-5239"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144936563","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Oxygen-tunable endothelialized microvascular chip to assess hypoxia–reperfusion in sickle cell disease","authors":"Samantha R. Schad, Joan D. Beckman, Wilbur A. Lam and David K. Wood","doi":"10.1039/D5LC00211G","DOIUrl":"10.1039/D5LC00211G","url":null,"abstract":"<p >A better understanding of hypoxia reperfusion (H/R) injury is needed to gain deeper insight into the mechanisms driving sickle cell disease (SCD) pathophysiology. Existing <em>in vivo</em> and <em>in vitro</em> models have yet to fully explain H/R, which is typically associated with harmful inflammatory processes but has also been linked to a protective effect ameliorating subsequent severe vaso-occlusion. To address this need, we developed a novel microfluidic platform that includes three-dimensional endothelial-lined microchannels within an oxygen-tunable environment. These features enable simulation of H/R, red blood cell (RBC) sickling, and vaso-occlusion on-chip. The endothelial network cultured on-chip is physiologically relevant and expresses crucial microvascular features such as 3D lumen structure and expression of functional endothelial markers. We utilized this platform to perform an occlusion assay, evaluating the effects of hypoxic preconditioning on RBC-endothelial interactions contributing to occlusion. Our results demonstrate that both sustained mild hypoxia and cyclic hypoxia endothelial treatment reduce the likelihood of SCD occlusion on-chip. Specifically, average vaso-occlusion rates of 8.89% and 11.78% were observed among endothelialized devices preconditioned to cyclic and sustained hypoxia, respectively, compared to 57.93% and 55.05% for the control groups. Additionally, we leveraged RNA sequencing to identify differential regulation of specific genes contributing to this protective outcome. Of note, hypoxia preconditioning resulted in significant modulation of <em>CYBB</em>, <em>RELN</em>, and <em>SERPINA1</em>. These results offer a better understanding of the mechanistic changes affecting the endothelium during H/R and also offer potential targets for further exploration and therapeutic intervention in SCD.</p>","PeriodicalId":85,"journal":{"name":"Lab on a Chip","volume":" 19","pages":" 4920-4933"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12366707/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144936662","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Disruption and nebulization of lipid vesicles using surface acoustic waves for direct mass spectrometry","authors":"Yuqi Huang, Qian Ma, Ashton Taylor, Lucas Lienard, Theresa Evans-Nguyen and Venkat Bhethanabotla","doi":"10.1039/D5LC00692A","DOIUrl":"10.1039/D5LC00692A","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Characterizing extracellular vesicles (EVs) using mass spectrometry (MS) provides several advantages. The molecular compositions within EVs can be analyzed at very low concentrations and can also distinguish lipids and molecules with similar structures. However, there are some challenges when analyzing EVs directly using MS, mainly due to their variations in size and biological composition, as well as their tendency to form large clusters. Here, we present a novel surface acoustic wave (SAW) sample preparation system capable of simultaneous disruption and nebulization of liposomes as a model for direct EV analysis by MS. This approach provides a mechanical alternative to traditional chemical methods, which minimizes sample preparation time, volume loss, and chemical interference while enhancing ionization efficiency. We study the influence of frequency on SAW nebulization for MS analysis of DOPC (1,2-dioleoyl-<em>sn-glycero</em>-3-phosphocholine) liposomes as well as liposome mixture. Through high-frequency Rayleigh SAW excitation, we demonstrate improved liposome disruption and enhanced ionization signals during MS analysis when combined with corona discharge ionization. We systematically investigate key parameters of device frequency, input radio frequency (RF) power, nebulization rate, acoustic heating, aerosolized droplet sizes, and surface preparation. The nebulization process was captured by high-speed imaging, which reveals the critical role of surface treatment and jetting dynamics in achieving efficient nebulization at different frequencies. Our findings reveal the frequency-dependent nature of Rayleigh SAW nebulization, highlighting its ability to generate fine, aerosolized particles that enhance MS sampling reliability and ionization efficiency. This work represents a significant advance in MS sample preparation techniques, with broad implications for lipidomics and growing interest in the analysis of biologically relevant vesicles such as EVs.</p>","PeriodicalId":85,"journal":{"name":"Lab on a Chip","volume":" 19","pages":" 5093-5102"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2025/lc/d5lc00692a?page=search","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144936626","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Bubble removal in microfluidic channels surrounded by gas-permeable media: experiments and a predictive model","authors":"Ludovic Keiser, Loukas Stamoulis, Baptiste Georjon, Philippe Marmottant and Benjamin Dollet","doi":"10.1039/D5LC00407A","DOIUrl":"10.1039/D5LC00407A","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Controlling the removal of bubbles from channels is crucial in microfluidics, either to eliminate air pockets if they are unwanted, or in pumpless microfluidic applications where receding bubbles is a way to induce liquid flows. To provide a better physical understanding of air removal in microchannels, we study the dynamics of invasion of wetting liquids in dead-end microchannels surrounded by an air-permeable medium. Using polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-based devices, we demonstrate that gas permeation through the channel walls drives an exponential decay in trapped air length with time (in marked contrast with the so-called Lucas–Washburn law of imbibition in porous media), providing a straightforward route to bubble elimination. Systematic experiments varying channel width, height, and PDMS thickness reveal how geometric and material factors modulate the refilling timescale. A simple analytical model, coupling capillarity and gas diffusion, captures these results quantitatively. For this purpose, we introduce an explicit expression for the interfacial curvature in microchannels with heterogeneous wettability (<em>e.g.</em>, PDMS-on-glass). This framework offers practical guidelines for microfluidic engineers aiming to prevent or remove trapped bubbles without relying on active pumping.</p>","PeriodicalId":85,"journal":{"name":"Lab on a Chip","volume":" 19","pages":" 5030-5042"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2025/lc/d5lc00407a?page=search","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144870412","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}