Photo-Gated Corona Microfluidics

We present a photo-gated corona microfluidics (PGCM) platform for programmable manipulation of diverse microscale objects on open, electrode-pattern-free surfaces. In PGCM, near-infrared laser irradiation locally triggers a reversible solid-liquid phase transition in the paraffin layer, switching the charge-transport regime from diffusion-limited to convection-dominated and reconstructing highly confined electric-field gradients. Quantitative charge measurements confirm that droplets acquire net positive charges via corona discharge, establishing Coulombic force as the dominant actuation mechanism. This photo-programmable electrostatic landscape enables deterministic, non-contact manipulation of liquid droplets, solid particles, and gas bubbles using a single movable laser beam. The platform supports comprehensive microfluidic operations-including transport, fusion, splitting, dispensing, and reaction regulation-while maintaining reliable performance on inclined, vertical, inverted, and curved surfaces. PGCM further exhibits exceptional scalability, enabling cross-scale manipulation spanning approximately ten orders of magnitude in volume, from picoliters to milliliters, and broad compatibility with corrosive liquids and biological samples. Owing to its structurally simple architecture and unified manipulation of multiphase and cross-scale objects, PGCM establishes a versatile framework for open microfluidics with broad applications in chemical synthesis, bioanalysis, and intelligent lab-on-a-chip systems.