THESIS
2016
iii leaves, iv-xxvi, 112 pages : illustrations ; 30 cm
Abstract
The past decades have witnessed the remarkable development of nanofluidics and
its widespread applications in chemical and biomedical research. Nanochannels,
typically having at least one critical dimension below 100 nm, exhibit new physical
properties that are quite different from those at microscale. New effects have been revealed in
these extremely restricted fluidic constructions
such as physical confinement of macromolecules
(e.g. DNA) and unique ionic transport mechanisms.
The utilization of these interesting effects has led to numerous innovative nanofluidic systems
such as nanofluidic diodes and transistors
that offer great potential in detecting and manipulating biomolecules.
This thesis aims to develop integrated, robust, and cost-effective nanoelectrofluidi...[
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The past decades have witnessed the remarkable development of nanofluidics and
its widespread applications in chemical and biomedical research. Nanochannels,
typically having at least one critical dimension below 100 nm, exhibit new physical
properties that are quite different from those at microscale. New effects have been revealed in
these extremely restricted fluidic constructions
such as physical confinement of macromolecules
(e.g. DNA) and unique ionic transport mechanisms.
The utilization of these interesting effects has led to numerous innovative nanofluidic systems
such as nanofluidic diodes and transistors
that offer great potential in detecting and manipulating biomolecules.
This thesis aims to develop integrated, robust, and cost-effective nanoelectrofluidic systems
that can be used in practical biomolecular
analysis. In particular, the very first account of integrated nanofluidic diode-based biosensor is
demonstrated, which features a tapered nanoslit array that can be functionalized to selectively
detect a human cardiac-injury biomarker with
a sensitivity level that is about >3 orders of magnitude higher than those associated with discrete nanofluidic diodes. Next, a highly effective integrated nanofluidic transistor
is developed, which is based on a 50-nm-diameter in-plane alumina capillary that is surrounded by a gate electrode along the entire length. The capacity of the nanofluidic transistor to actively regulate protein transport and DNA translocation is also demonstrated. Notably, the fabrication of both the devices presented herein does not required advanced lithographic techniques and thus is highly cost-effective. A novel label-free method of quantifying nucleic acids in polymerase chain reaction leveraging on nanofluidic diodes and a convenient approach to fabricate self-enclosed nanocapillaries relying on only coarse lithography (>1 μm) are also described.
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