Electrocoalescence of liquid marbles driven by embedded electrodes for triggering bioreactions

Area of Science:

• Microfluidics
• Biotechnology
• Electrostatics

Background:

• Precise control of liquid marbles is crucial for applications like microreactors in chemical and biological assays.
• Existing electrocoalescence methods often require electrode immersion, limiting their application.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a novel electrostatic strategy for efficient liquid marble coalescence.
• To demonstrate the application of this method in cell spheroid culture and metabolic activity assays.

Main Methods:

• Coalescing liquid marbles using applied voltage to embedded electrodes.
• Analyzing the electrostatic coalescence mechanism by relating electric stress and capillary pressure.
• Demonstrating applications in cell spheroid medium exchange and CCK-8 assays.

Main Results:

• Efficient coalescence of liquid marbles was achieved via electrostatics without electrode immersion.
• The method was successfully applied to exchange cell culture media for spheroids.
• Cell metabolic activity was accurately measured using the CCK-8 assay on coalesced liquid marbles.

Conclusions:

• Electrostatic coalescence offers an efficient and versatile method for manipulating liquid marbles.
• This technique provides new opportunities for chemical reactions and biomedical assays in liquid marble microreactors.
• The non-invasive electrode approach expands the utility of liquid marbles in microfluidic platforms.