Non-Spherical Bio-Imaging Particles
ApplicationNon-spherical particles are beneficial for drug delivery, bioimagingand biometrics due to their large surface area. Currently, the dominant shape of polymerparticles has been spherical because of the difficulty of manufacturing largequantities of monodispersed particles with tunable shapes and sizes. This patented process controls the shape and assembly of polymer droplets within aflow-focusing droplet microfluidic device to form non-spherical particles andchains. The method relies on water-based magnetic liquid (ferrofluid) as acontinuous phase to (1) induce droplet formation (2) controllably change theshape of droplets, and (3) assemble droplets into chains. These ferrofluidsinduce magnetic dipole movement within the droplets, making it possible for thedroplets to deform to non-spherical shapes and assemble into chains of tunablelengths.
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