Microfluidic Dynamic Light Scattering Used for High Throughput Measurements

Published

July 10, 2007

Author(s)

Thomas Q. Chastek, Kathryn L. Beers, Eric J. Amis

Abstract

When diluted in some solvents, surfactants and block copolymers self-assemble into micelles or vesicles of about 10-100 nm in size. There is a great deal of interest in micelles and vesicles because they are widely used in the formulations industry, and there is potential to apply them to the area of targeted drug delivery.1 Understanding the conditions needed to form and dissolve micelles or vesicles is crucial to successfully using them in applications. Moreover, the understanding must be broad as possible given the diversity of complex solutions used in the formulations industry. Dynamic light scattering (DLS) is the ideal tool for identifying transitions to and from the micelle or vesicle state given its proven simplicity and ability to accurately determine the size of nanometer size particles.High throughput DLS measurements made on a systematically designed set of samples is an effective avenue to having a broad understanding of the conditions needed for micelle formation. We have made high throughput DLS measurements by incorporating DLS onto a microfluidic chip. Moreover, the instrument was designed to be generally compatible with microfluidics. The intention is to combine this DLS device with other microfluidic tools such as controlled polymer synthesis, as part of the ongoing effort to create labs-on-a-chip.

Citation

Review of Scientific Instruments

Pub Type

Journals

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Keywords

dynamic light scattering, fiber optic, high throughput, microfluidics

Citation

Chastek, T. , Beers, K. and Amis, E. (2007), Microfluidic Dynamic Light Scattering Used for High Throughput Measurements, Review of Scientific Instruments, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=852713 (Accessed April 3, 2025)