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Updated: Oct 13, 2025
A Femtoliter Droplet Array for Massively Parallel Protein Synthesis from Single DNA Molecules
Published on: June 20, 2020
A low-cost self-dispersing method of droplet array generation enabled by a simple reusable mask for bioanalysis and
Kai Liu1,2, Yang Pan1,2, Xiaojie Wang1,2
1Department of Precision Machinery & Precision Instrumentation, University of Science & Technology of China, Hefei, 230027, Anhui, China.
Abstract:
Discontinuous dewetting is an attractive technique that can produce droplet array of specific volume, geometry and at predefined location on a substrate. Droplet array has great potential in bioanalysis such as high-throughput live cell screening, digital PCR, and drug candidates. Here, we propose a self-dispersing droplet array generation method, which has advantages of low cost, simple operation, and easy large-area production ability. Droplet array of specific volumes was generated on a polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) substrate using a simple reusable polyimide (PI) adhesive mask. Experiment shows that the generated droplet array can be used to successfully capture single particles which obeys Poisson distribution in a high-throughput manner. Furthermore, a droplet-array sandwiching chip was created based on the self-dispersion method for rapid detection of human serum albumin (HSA) at wide range of 183-11,712 μg/mL with low reagent consumption of 2.2 μL, demonstrating its potential applications in convenient high-throughput bioanalysis and bioassays.
