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High-Efficiency Interdigitated Electrode-Based Droplet Merger for Enabling Error-Free Droplet Microfluidic Systems.

Jeong Jae Han¹, Han Zhang², Yuwen Li²

¹Department of Multidisciplinary Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, United States.

Analytical Chemistry

|August 15, 2024

Summary

This study introduces an interdigitated electrode (IDE)-based droplet merger for microfluidic applications. The novel device achieves high merging efficiency (>95%) even with size variations, enabling precise content mixing for biological and chemical assays.

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Area of Science:

Microfluidics
Biotechnology
Chemical Engineering

Background:

Droplet merging is crucial for microfluidic assays but faces challenges with unsynchronized and polydisperse droplets.
Traditional methods suffer from overmerging, mis-merging, and uncontrolled merging zones, especially with varying droplet sizes.

Purpose of the Study:

To develop a novel interdigitated electrode (IDE)-based droplet merger for efficient and controlled droplet merging in microfluidic systems.
To address limitations of existing droplet merging techniques, particularly for polydisperse droplets in complex assays.

Main Methods:

Designed an IDE-based droplet merger with an integrated autosynchronizing channel and merging channel.
Investigated the impact of IDE design parameters (finger dimensions, coating thickness) and operational parameters (droplet size, flow speed) on merging efficiency.
Evaluated device performance under continuous operation and high throughput.

Main Results:

Achieved >95% merging efficiency with up to 20% droplet size polydispersity.
Demonstrated droplet merging at low voltage (4.5 V) localized to the IDE region.
Showcased consistent performance for over 100 hours at 100 droplets/s throughput.
Successfully integrated the merger into a bacteriophage lytic activity assay with 100% efficiency.

Conclusions:

The IDE-based droplet merger offers a robust solution for precise content mixing in microfluidics, overcoming polydispersity challenges.
The technology enables low-voltage, localized merging with high efficiency and throughput, suitable for diverse biological and chemical assays.
This advancement is expected to enhance various high-throughput droplet microfluidic applications.