Chemical technology news from across RSC Publishing.
Finding the reaction rates for a particle-in-a-chip
23 April 2008
How does trapping a nanoparticle in a microdevice affect its reactions? US scientists are answering this question thanks to a straightforward method using fluorescent tags.
Meghan Caulum and Charles Henry at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, US, have developed what they say is 'a simple, inexpensive way to monitor reactions at the surface of magnetic particles within a microfluidic device.' The researchers used their method to look at reaction rates in the system.
Using small magnetic particles in microfluidic systems has great potential in chemical synthesis and biological techniques such as immunoassays, declare Caulum and Henry. But few researchers so far have studied how reaction rates at the particle surfaces differ in microfluidic devices from those in solution. Caulum and Henry say that understanding the processes involved is important when trying to optimise previously solution-based assays on-chip.
- Sabeth Verpoorte, University of Groningen, The Netherlands
Sabeth Verpoorte, head of the pharmaceutical analysis group at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, says 'There is no doubt that combining micro- and nanoparticles with microfluidics will lead to powerful new approaches for chemical and biochemical processing and analysis. This work represents a significant step forward in this area, as it yields new information on particle-based reactions and handling.'
Link to journal article
Measuring reaction rates on single particles in a microfluidic device
Meghan M. Caulum and Charles S. Henry, Lab Chip, 2008, 8, 865
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Multifunctional magnetite nanoparticles coated with fluorescent thermo-responsive polymeric shells
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