Search results for "inkjet printing"

Monitoring few molecular binding events in scalable confined aqueous compartments by raster image correlation spectroscopy (CADRICS)

2016

The assembly of scalable liquid compartments for binding assays in array formats constitutes a topic of fundamental importance in life sciences. This challenge can be addressed by mimicking the structure of cellular compartments with biological native conditions. Here, inkjet printing is employed to develop up to hundreds of picoliter aqueous droplet arrays stabilized by oil-confinement with mild surfactants (Tween-20). The aqueous environments constitute specialized compartments in which biomolecules may exploit their function and a wide range of molecular interactions can be quantitatively investigated. Raster Image Correlation Spectroscopy (RICS) is employed to monitor in each compartmen…

The emerging role of 3D printing in the fabrication of detection systems

2021

Abstract 3D printing is fast evolving as an additive manufacturing technique that has been adopted in (bio)analytical science because of the ample variety of materials and technologies currently available for highly affordable prototyping. This review focuses on the unique characteristics of 3D printing for manufacturing of optical and electrochemical detection systems, and sampling interfaces for analytical purposes using fused deposition modelling, vat polymerization (stereolithography and digital light processing) and photopolymer inkjet printing. The majority of works surveyed within the time span of mid-2018 to mid-2020 encompassed the fabrication of several components of the detection…

Sub-Cellular Scale Compartments: Printing Life-Inspired Subcellular Scale Compartments with Autonomous Molecularly Crowded Confinement (Adv. Biosys. …

2019

On the Effect of Downscaling in Inkjet Printed Life-Inspired Compartments

2019

The fabrication of size-scalable liquid compartments is a topic of fundamental importance in synthetic biology, aiming to mimic the structures and the functions of cellular compartments. Here, inkjet printing is demonstrated as a customizable approach to fabricate aqueous compartments at different size regimes (from nanoliter to femtoliter scale) revealing the crucial role of size in governing the emerging of new properties. At first, inkjet printing is shown to produce homogenous aqueous compartments stabilized by oil-confinement with mild surfactants down to the hundreds of picoliter scale [1]. Raster Image Correlation Spectroscopy allows to monitor few intermolecular events by the involv…

Aqueous Processed Biopolymer Interfaces for Single-Cell Microarrays

2020

Single-cell microarrays are emerging tools to unravel intrinsic diversity within complex cell populations, opening up new approaches for the in-depth understanding of highly relevant diseases. However, most of the current methods for their fabrication are based on cumbersome patterning approaches, employing organic solvents and/or expensive materials. Here, we demonstrate an unprecedented green-chemistry strategy to produce single-cell capture biochips onto glass surfaces by all-aqueous inkjet printing. At first, a chitosan film is easily inkjet printed and immobilized onto hydroxyl-rich glass surfaces by electrostatic immobilization. In turn, poly(ethylene glycol) diglycidyl ether is graft…

Droplet-to-droplet microarray for drug screening in picoliter scale

2012

Advanced Drug Screening platforms by Inkjet printing

2011

In this work, we show a low-cost, speed, microarray-based drug screening platform that employs inkjet printing drug dispensing on an enzymatic-rich surface. Mixtures of a model substrate (Dglucose)/ inhibitor (D-glucal) couple have been inkjet printed on a target enzymatic monolayer (glucose oxidase) linked to a functionalized silicon oxide solid surface [1]. It has been possible to fabricate microarrays with quality factors as high as those of conventional pin printing spotting. By a simple horseradish-based colorimetric enzymatic assay, the detection of biological activity at the single spot has been proved. The figure shows a scheme of the platform: molecular inks of the enzymatic substr…

Inkjet printing methodologies for drug screening

2010

We show for the first time a contactless, low-cost, and rapid drug screening methodology by employing inkjet printing for molecular dispensing in a microarray format. Picoliter drops containing a model substrate (D-glucose)/ inhibitor (D-glucal) couple were accurately dispensed on a single layer consisting of the enzymatic target (glucose oxidase) covalently linked to a functionalized silicon oxide support. A simple colorimetric detection method allowed one to prove the screening capability of the microarray with the possibility to assay with high reproducibility at the single spot level. Measurements of the optical signal as a function of concentration and of time verified the occurrence a…

On the Relationship between Jetted Inks and Printed Biopatterns:Molecular-Thin Functional Microarrays of Glucose Oxidase

2009

Arrays of circular spots of glucose oxidase have been obtained on functionalized silicon oxide by piezoelectric inkjet printing and the enzymatic activity toward glucose recognition has been monitored. The addition of glycerol to the molecular ink allows to obtain high spot definition and resolution (tens of micrometers wide; one molecule tall), but in spite of its well-known structural stabilizing properties, in dynamic conditions it may lead to increased protein stresses. The jetting voltage and pulse length have been found to be critical factors for both activity retention and pattern definition. High voltages and pulse lengths results in stress effects along with the loss of activity, w…

Spontaneous Interfacial Fragmentation of Inkjet Printed Oil Droplets and Their electrical characterization

2019

This work presents the fabrication of femtoliter-scale oil droplets by inkjet printing based on a novel mechanism for the spontaneous fragmentation at the interface with an immiscible water phase and the electrical characterization of the resulting immersed “daughter” droplets. [1] In particular, picoliter-scale fluorinated oil droplets impact on surfactant laden water phase at moderately high Weber number (101), and are subjected to spreading and capillary instabilities at the water/air interface which ultimately lead to rupture in smaller sized droplets, according to reported models for macroscale droplets systems - [2] the emerging fragmentation results in “daughter” droplets having volu…