• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.472-477
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• 2015

This study presents modified microfluidic picoinjector combined Faraday moat with silver nanoparticle electrode to increase electrical efficiency and fabrication yield. We perform simple dropping procedure of silver nanoparticles near the picoinjection channel, which solve complicate fabrication process of electrode deposition onto the microfluidic picoinjector. Based on this approach, the microfluidic picoinjector can be reliably operated at 180 V while conventional Faraday moat usually have performed above 260 V. Thus, we can reduce the operation voltage and increase safety. Furthermore, the microfluidic picoinjector is able to precisely control injection volume from 7.5 pL to 27.5 pL. We believe that the microfluidic picoinjector will be useful platform for microchemical reaction, biological assay, drug screening, cell culture device, and toxicology.

• Proceedings of the Korea Air Pollution Research Association Conference
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• 2005.11a
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• pp.60-62
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• 2005

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.61-66
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• 2010

In our previous work, 3-dimensional hydrodynamic focusing microfluidic device (3D-HFMD) has been developed with the help of locally increased aspect ratio of thickness to width without any horizontal separation wall. In this study, we have investigated 3-dimensional hydrodynamic focusing behaviors inside the 3D-HFMD according to the various geometric and flow conditions. The parametric study has been extensively carried out for the effects of geometric and flow conditions on 3-dimensional hydrodynamic focusing with both 3D-HFMD and previous microfluidic device design based on three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. The CFD simulations suggested the proper design window of channel geometry and flow conditions.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.52 no.5
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• pp.632-637
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• 2014

A microfluidic method for the in situ production of monodispersed alginate hydrogels using biocompatible polymer gelation by crosslinker mass transfer is described. Gelation of the hydrogel was achieved in situ by the dispersed calcium ion in the microfluidic device. The capillary number (Ca) and the flow rate of the disperse phase which are important operating parameters mainly influenced the formation of three distinctive flow regions, such as dripping, jetting, and unstable dripping. Under the formation of dripping region, monodispersed alginate hydrogels having a narrow size distribution (C.V=2.71%) were produced in the microfluidic device and the size of the hydrogels, ranging from 30 to $60{\mu}m$, could be easily controlled by varying the flow rate, viscosity, and interfacial tension. This simple microfluidic method for the production of monodisperse alginate hydrogels shows strong potential for use in delivery systems of foods, cosmetics, inks, and drugs, and spherical alginate hydrogels which have biocompatibility will be applied to cell transplantation.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.357-362
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• 2011

This paper demonstrates a novel electrodynamic technique to remove particles from the wall of microchannels. Dielectrohporesis(DEP) is generated by applying alternating electric potentials to the interdigitated electrodes integrated at the bottom of the micro-channel. The proposed technique is applied to a general microfluidic channel as a feasibility test. To examine the wall loss reduction efficiency, 10 ${\mu}m$ diameter Polystyrene latexes(PSL) were supplied to the inlet of the device. Then, the concentration of collected particles through devices was measured. In the experiment for 10 ${\mu}m$ diameter PSL particles, the concentration of the injected particles was $174.25{\times}10^4$ particles/ml. However, the concentration of collected particles at the outlet was $52.25{\times}10^4$ particles/ml. Only 30 % of particles had arrived at the outlet and 70 % of particles had adhered to the wall of the microfluidic channel. By applying alternating electric potentials from 0 to 20 $V_{pp}$ at 3 MHz, the concentration of injected particles was 135.00${\times}10^4$ particles/ml, the concentration of collected particles was increased as $105.25{\times}10^4$ particles/ml at 20 $V_{pp}$ at the outlet. When the electric potential was 20 $V_{pp}$, the particle loss was decreased by 39 % (initial loss: 70 %, loss at 20 Vpp: 31 %) with 10 ${\mu}m$ particle. The particle loss was decreased along to the incensement of electric potentials and the enlargement of the diameter of particles. According to these measured results, it was confirmed that the proposal of using DEP technique could be a good candidate for particle loss reduction in micro-particle processing chip application. Moreover, it is expected that the proposed technique could enhance performance of microfluidic and biochip devices.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.189-196
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• 2013

Dielectrophoresis(DEP) is useful in manipulation and separation of micro-sized particles including biological samples such as bacteria, blood cells, and cancer cells in a micro-fluidic device. Especially, those separation and manipulation techniques using DEP in combination of micro fabrication technique have been researched more and more. Recently, it is revealed that a window structure of insulating layer in microfluidic DEP chip is key role in trap of micro-particles around the window structure. However, the trap phenomenon-driven by DEP force gradient did not fully understand and is still illusive. In this study, we characterize the trap mechanism and efficiency with different shapes of window in a microfluidic DEP chip. To do this characterization, we fabricated 4 different windows shapes such as rhombus, circle, squares, and hexagon inside a micro-fluidic chip, and performed micro-sized particles manipulation experiments as varying the frequency and voltage of AC signal. Moreover, the numerical simulation with the same parameters that were used in the experiment was also performed in order to compare the simulation results and the experimental results. Those comparison shows that both results are closely matched. This study may be helpful in design and development of microfluidic DEP chip for trapping micro-scaled biological particle.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.151-156
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• 2013

Crystallization of $CaCO_3$ is practiced on a polymethylsiloxane (PDMS) - based microfluidic system. Liquid- liquid reaction was investigated by mixing calcium chloride ($CaCl_2$) and sodium carbonate ($Na_2CO_3$) solution to crystallize $CaCO_3$. Aspartic acid (Asp) was added to investigate the morphology change such as vaterite and calcite. Suitable ratio of $Na_2CO_3$ and $CaCl_2$ was searched for initial seed formation. Christmas tree model was used as microfluidic device to form concentration gradient of $Na_2CO_3$ and $CaCl_2$. After observing microfluidic channel by using optical microscope, we found that seeds of $CaCO_3$ were formed under the condition that the ratio of $Na_2CO_3$ and $CaCl_2$ was 2:1. Morphology of crystals were also observed as $CaCO_3$ crystals grow. When Asp was added, vaterite crystal was more frequently found in two morphologies (vaterite and calcite) and seed formation and crystal growth were inhibited.

• JSTS:Journal of Semiconductor Technology and Science
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.140-150
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• 2007

A simple, label-free microfluidic cell purification method is presented for separation of cancer cells by exploiting difference in cell adhesion. To maximize the adhesion difference, three types of polymeric nanostructures (50nm pillars, 50nm perpendicular and 50nm parallel lines with respect to the direction of flow) were fabricated using UV-assisted capillary moulding and included inside a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microfluidic channel bonded onto glass substrate. The adhesion force of human breast epithelial cells (MCF10A) and human breast carcinoma (MCF7) was measured independently by injecting each cell line into the microfluidic device followed by culture for a period of time (e.g., one, two, and three hours). Then, the cells bound to the floor of a microfluidic channel were detached by increasing the flow rate of medium in a stepwise fashion. It was found that the adhesion force of MCF10A was always higher than that of MCF cells regardless of culture time and surface nanotopography at all flow rates, resulting in a label-free detection and separation of cancer cells. For the cell types used in our study, the optimum separation was found for 2 hours culture on 50nm parallel line pattern followed by flow-induced detachment at a flow rate of $300{\mu}l/min$.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.738-742
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• 2012

Here, we develop a new nanofilter device for the rapid and efficient separation of nanoparticles and biomolecules, exploiting the use of AAO mebrane with ordered nanopores in the range from 20 nm to 200 nm. Briefly, the chip comprises of a series of the upper and lower PDMS channels containing embedded inlet and outlet ports, and $50{\mu}m$ width microfluidic channel, and AAO membrane to be made the filtering zone. After assembling these components, the acrylate plastic plates were used to fix the device on the top and bottom side. When introducing the samples into the inlet ports of the upper PDMS channel, we were able to separate and concentrate the nanoparticles and target molecules at the filtering zone, and to elute the solutions containing the unwanted materials toward the lower PDMS channels normal to the direction of AAO membrane. To demonstrate the usefulness of the device we apply it to the SERS detection of nucleic acid sequences associated with Dengue virus serotype 2. We report a limit of detection for Dengue sequences of 300 nM and show excellent enhancement of Raman signals from the filter zone of the nanofilter device.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2010.05a
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• pp.505-506
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• 2010