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Thursday, November 19, 2009
3pm (2:45pm refreshments)
Grier Room, 34-401
Paper-Based Microfluidic Systems
Prof. George Whitesides, Harvard University
ABSTRACT
This seminar will describe the development and use of a new family of microanalytical devices based on paper. To fabricate these devices (micro-paper-based analytical systems, or μ-PADs), paper is first patterned with lines of a hydrophobic polymer or wax; the hydrophobically bounded regions of paper then act as fluidic microchannels, through which water moves by capillarity. Stacking patterned paper with interleaved hydrophobic sheets (double-sided adhesive tape, with holes patterned in it) generates three-dimensional devices. The immediate use of these microsystems is as diagnostics for use in the developing world, where low cost and mechanical ruggedness are important. They have, however, a surprisingly wide range of capabilities and uses, which this talk will summarize.
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