Multiscale vapor-mediateddendritic pattern formation and bacterial aggregation in complex respiratory biofluid droplets

Deposits of biofluid droplets on surfaces (such as respiratory droplets formed during an expiratory) are composed of water-based salt-protein solution that may also contain an infection (bacterial/viral). The final patterns of the deposit formed and bacterial aggregation on the deposits are dictated by the fluid composition and flow dynamics within the droplet.

This work reports the spatio-temporal, topological regulation of deposits of respiratory fluid droplets and control of bacterial aggregation by tweaking flow inside droplets using non-contact vapor-mediated interactions. Desiccated respiratory droplets form deposits with haphazard multiscale dendritic, cruciform-shaped precipitates when evaporated on a glass substrate. However, we showcase that short and long-range vapor-mediated interaction between the droplets can be used as a tool to control these deposits at nano-micro-millimeter scales. We morphologically control hierarchial dendrite size, orientation and subsequently suppress cruciform-shaped crystals by placing a droplet of ethanol in the vicinity of the biofluid droplet. Active living matter in respiratory fluids like bacteria is preferentially segregated and agglomerated without its viability and pathogenesis attenuation.

The nucleation sites can be controlled via preferential transfer of solutes in the droplets; thus, achieving control over crystal occurrence, growth dynamics, and the final topology of the deposit. For the first time, we have experimentally presented a proof-of-concept to control the aggregation of live active matter like bacteria without any direct contact. The methodology can have ramifications in biomedical applications like disease detection and bacterial segregation.