title: Electric moulding of dispersed lipid nanotubes into a nanofluidic device.
abstract: Hydrophilic nanotubes formed by lipid molecules have potential applications as platforms for chemical or biological events occurring in an attolitre volume inside a hollow cylinder. Here, we have integrated the lipid nanotubes (LNTs) by applying an AC electric field via plug-in electrode needles placed above a substrate. The off-chip assembly method has the on-demand adjustability of an electrode configuration, enabling the dispersed LNT to be electrically moulded into a separate film of parallel LNT arrays in one-step. The fluorescence resonance energy transfer technique as well as the digital microscopy visualised the overall filling of gold nanoparticles up to the inner capacity of an LNT film by capillary action, thereby showing the potential of this flexible film for use as a high-throughput nanofluidic device where not only is the endo-signalling and product in each LNT multiplied but also the encapsulated objects are efficiently transported and reacted.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Nanotechnology, Kochi University of Technology, Tosa-Yamada, Kochi 782-8502, Japan. frusawa.hiroshi@kochi-tech.ac.jp
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Frusawa
authors.forename: Tatsuhiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Manabe
authors.forename: Eri
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kagiyama
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hirano
authors.forename: Naohiro
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kameta
authors.forename: Mitsutoshi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Masuda
authors.forename: Toshimi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shimizu
mesh_terms: D004560:Electricity; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry; D008055:Lipids / Q000737:chemistry*; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry; D046210:Microfluidic Analytical Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation; D036103:Nanotechnology; D043942:Nanotubes / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure
chemical_list: D008055:Lipids; D006046:Gold