Scientists deliver portable total chemical analysis without pumps and tubes

The portability of the new device enables bedside, quantitative clinical analysis or environmental analysis in the field

27-Feb-2024 - Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have engineered a new micro total analysis system that quantifies a target chemical in a microfluidic chip without pumps, tubes, and expensive detectors. The compound reacts with other chemicals to produce a gas, pushing ink in a connected chamber ...

The little things matter: Chemists develop new sensor for microvolume pH detection

New environmentally friendly, durable pH sensor is sensitive enough to accurately measure pH variation in just a few microliters of samples

07-Nov-2023 - Measuring the pH of substances gives us vital clues about the world around us, such as identifying contaminated water or checking the toxicity of medical or cosmetic products. Often, only small amounts of samples are available, but monitoring the variation in pH in these miniscule volumes ...

Accurate rapid tests made from smart graphene paper

The potential range of applications covers virtually all chemical, biological and medical analyses that can be performed in aqueous solutions

29-Mar-2023 - A team led by ETH Zurich chemical engineers Chih-​Jen Shih and Andrew deMello have developed a rapid test system made of smart graphene paper. It only costs a few cents per test strip, is easy to use but is as accurate as lab measurements. The approach will impact more than just disease ...

Scientists develop new thermofluidic process for lab-on-a-chip applications

This will unlock groundbreaking solutions for nanotechnology, the manipulation of liquids in systems in tiny spaces, or in the field of diagnostics

10-Feb-2022 - Researchers at Leipzig University have succeeded in moving tiny amounts of liquid at will by remotely heating water over a metal film with a laser. The currents generated in this way can be used to manipulate and even capture tiny objects. This will unlock groundbreaking new solutions for ...

Microlab on a chip: Water please, but clean

A further developed chip prototype for water analysis devices

11-Nov-2021 - A microfluidic chip takes up a water sample, adds the necessary chemicals and transports it to the detection site. What's the point? In this way, the water is to be analyzed fully automatically and with various parameters, and at the lowest possible cost. A further developed chip prototype for ...

Nature-inspired coatings could power tiny chemistry labs for medical testing and more

Researchers develop polymer coating that enables low surface tension liquids to be transported over distances 15 times longer than currently possible, without losing any of the liquid

27-Oct-2021 - A newly developed coating that allows for certain liquids to move across surfaces without fluid loss could usher in new advances in a range of fields, including medical testing. This new coating— created in theDREAM (Durable Repellent Engineered Advanced Materials) Laboratory, led by University ...

Researchers design microsystem for faster, more sustainable industrial chemistry

Lab reactor, liquefied catalyst, and machine learning for more efficient polymerization design

16-Apr-2020 - The synthesis of plastic precursors, such as polymers, involves specialized catalysts. However, the traditional batch-based method of finding and screening the right ones for a given result consumes liters of solvent, generates large quantities of chemical waste, and is an expensive, ...

Energy Flow in the Nano Range

Two new spectroscopic methods

23-Oct-2019 - It is crucial for photovoltaics and other technical applications, how efficiently energy spreads in a small volume. With new methods, the path of energy in the nanometer range can now be followed precisely. Plants and bacteria lead the way: They can capture the energy of sunlight with ...

Electric Cloth: Flexible, wearable supercapacitors based on porous nanocarbon nanocomposites

22-Oct-2019 - Evening gowns with interwoven LEDs may look extravagant, but the light sources need a constant power supply from devices that are as well wearable, durable, and lightweight. Chinese scientists have manufactured fibrous electrodes for wearable devices that are flexible and excel by their high ...

Inspired by nature: Scientists have developed a nanopore-microchip

01-Oct-2019 - Medical professionals and environment analysts would like to have microchips that measure substances directly on site. Scientists at TU Darmstadt have developed and patented a system based on nanopores with broad potential. Anyone wishing to use laboratory readings for diagnosing a disorder or ...