Developing microdevices on flexible material attracts scientific community to explore applications in different aspects of health and point of care diagnostics. Flexible substrates offer unique characteristics such as flexibility, stretchability, portability, low-cost, and simple fabrication. Fabrication of cost-effective paper-based analytical devices by wax printing has recently become popular using cellulose filter papers. Paper-based devices need higher temperature to form hydrophobic barrier across paper substrate, rely on large working channels (≥ 500 μm) for liquid handling, and exhibit lower efficiency (~50%) of sample mobility. Such limitations confine applications of wax-based fabrication. In this dissertation, we report printability, fidelity, and applications of wax micropatterns on polyethylene terephthalate-based substrate (PET), which is a a non-cellulosic, non-fibrous, and non-porous material. Resolution, sustainability against heat and biocompatibility was tested on wax micro-features. The patterned devices were explored for variety of applications.First, wax microwells on PET showed mouse embryonic stem cell (mESC) self-renewal or direct differentiation. Second, microfluidic flow was demonstrated on wax printed microchannels on PET which was used to develop distance-based assay. Third, fluidic properties of trinucleotide repeat sequences were investigated on wax microchannels. Fourth, multilayer wax-on-plastic device was fabricated using wax printing with hand painting of conductive materials for electrochemical immunosensing.

Nanobelts are a new class of semiconducting metal oxide nanowires with great potential for nanoscale devices. The present research focuses on the manipulation of SnO₂ nanobelts suspended in ethanol using microfluidics and electric fields. Dielectrophoresis (DEP) was demonstrated for the first time on semiconducting metal oxide nanobelts, which also resulted in the fabrication of a multiple nanobelt device. Detailed and direct real-time observations of the wide variety of nanobelt motions induced by DEP forces were conducted using an innovative setup and an inverted optical microscope. High AC electric fields were generated on a gold microelectrode (~ 20 µm gap) array, patterned on glass substrate, and covered by a ~ 10 µm tall PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane) channel, into which the nanobelt suspension was introduced for performing the DEP experiments. Negative DEP (repulsion) of the nanobelts was observed in the low frequency range (< 100 kHz) of the applied voltage, which caused rigid body motion as well as deformation of the nanobelts. In the high frequency range (~ 1 MHz - 10 MHz), positive DEP (attraction) of the nanobelts was observed. Using a parallel plate electrode arrangement, evidence of electrophoresis was also found for DC and low frequency (Hz) voltages. The existence of negative DEP effect is unusual considering the fact that if bulk SnO₂ conductivity and permittivity values are used in combination with ethanol properties to calculate the Clausius Mossotti factor using the simple dipole approximation theory; it predicts positive DEP for most of the frequency range experimentally studied. A fluidic nanobelt alignment technique was studied and used in the fabrication of single nanobelt devices with small electrode gaps. These devices were primarily used for conducting impedance spectroscopy measurements to obtain an estimate of the nanobelt electrical conductivity. Parametric numerical studies were conducted using COMSOL Multiphysics software package to understand the different aspects of the DEP phenomenon in nanobelts. The DEP induced forces and torques were computed using the Maxwell Stress Tensor (MST) approach. The DEP force on the nanobelt was calculated for a range of nanobelt conductivity values. The simulation results indicate that the experimentally observed behavior can be explained if the nanobelt is modeled as having two components: an electrically conductive interior and a nonconductive outer layer surrounding it. This forms the basis for an explanation of the negative DEP observed in SnO₂ nanobelts suspended in ethanol. It is thought that the nonconductive layer is due to depletion of the charge carriers from the nanobelt surface regions. This is consistent with the fact that surface depletion is a commonly observed phenomenon in SnO₂ and other semiconducting metal oxide materials. The major research contribution of this work is that, since nanostructures have large surface areas, surface dominant properties are important. Considering only bulk electrical properties can predict misleading DEP characteristics.

Orientador: Luiz Otavio Saraiva Ferreira / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Mecanica / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-06T16:27:32Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Espindola_AlexeyMarques_M.pdf: 1293939 bytes, checksum: 66ab2d16dc552294762d6c3708cda71b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006 / Resumo: Os sistemas microfluidicos estão evoluindo rapidamente, encontrando vastas aplicações na mais diversas áreas do conhecimento. Os Lab-on-Chips, LOCs, são dispositivos capazes de realizar análises químicas e bioquímicas em um único chip. Este dispositivo pode causar grande impacto no mercado de análises laboratoriais, por este motivo vem ganhando grande atenção Para realizar estas análises os LOCs necessitam de microbombas capazes de transportar quantidades ínfimas de fluidos em seus canais de maneira acurada e uniforme. Desta forma, o interesse em modelar e fabricar microbombas tomou-se uma área fértil para a pesquisa. Neste trabalho foi desenvolvida a modelagem de uma microbomba peristáltica de elastõmero, tipo de bomba mais conveniente para Lab-on-Chips, utilizando a técnica de analogias eletro-mecânicas que consiste em representar um dispositivo por um circuito elétrico equivalente. As análises das simulações podem ser realizadas usando programas de análise de circuitos elétricos. Dois modelos foram apresentados neste trabalho. O primeiro é a reprodução do modelo de bomba criado por Jacques Goulpeau, em que o modelo de uma válvula é extrapolando para toda a microbomba. O segundo contém o circuito elétrico equivalente da bomba completa mostrando a interações entre suas partes. Os resultados mostram que o comportamento da microbomba não pode ser completamente descrito pelo modelo extrapolado a partir de uma válvula, devido às interações entre três válvulas. As simulações do circuito equivalente da bomba completa mostraram que os efeitos das interações entre as válvulas explicam claramente a diferença entre a vazão prevista pelo modelo de Goulpeau e os dados experimentais por ele obtidos, sendo possível ajustar o modelo aos dados experimentais / Abstract: Microfluidies systems are growing rapidly, finding a large nwnber of applications in many fields. Lab-on-ehips, LOC, are deviees that ean perform ehemical and biochemical analyses in a ehip. This device ean cause high impact on laboratorial analyses market, and then it is gaining large attention. In order to execute these analyses on LOC, mieropumps are necessary to transport a tiny quantity of fluid between the channeIs with accuracy and uniformity. Thus, the interests of modeling and fabrication mieropwnps are increasing and become a fertile research field. The goal of this work were a modeling of elastomer peristaltic micropwnp, the most suitable pwnp for LOCs, using the electro- mechanical analogy technique that consist in represent the device in a electrical equivalent networks. Then the simulation analyses can be done on electrical simulation tools. Two models were presented in this work. The first is reproduction of the pwnp model made by Jacques Goulpeau et aI., where the valve model is extrapolated to the whole mieropwnp. The second contains the electrical equivalent circuit that represents the whole device showing the interactions between its eomponents. The results showed that micropump behavior eouldn't completely deseribe by the extrapolated model ftom a valve, because the interactions between the three valves. The simulations of electrical equivalent eircuit of the whole pwnp showed that the interaction between the valves explain the difference between of flow rate foreseen by Goulpeau model and his experimental data, being possible to adjust the model to the experimental data / Mestrado / Mecanica dos Sólidos e Projeto Mecanico / Mestre em Engenharia Mecânica