title: Fast assembly of anti-voltage photonic crystals in microfluidic channels for ultrafast separation of amino acids and peptides.
abstract: Photonic crystals (PCs) with periodically ordered particle beds are ideal media for high-performance separation but hard to be stably and crack-freely assembled in various microfluidic channels. Here we describe a facile method to fast assemble crack-free and high-voltage-sustainable PCs into the micro channels. The key is to speed up an evaporation-induced assembly by heating up (at 70 °C) and blowing away the solvent vapor from one end of a channel and supplying silica suspension at the other end. Crack-free PCs can be prepared at a speed of 0.2 cm/min. The heat also accelerates the silica particles to gel with solvent water and in turn to form a particle network by linking each other through their gelled surface. PCs with two pieces of particle network at their ends are capable of resistance to electrical fields up to 2,000 V/cm. Ultrafast separation of amino acids can be achieved along a 2.5-mm PC in 4 s and peptides along a 10-mm PC in 12 s.
authors: Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Living Biosystems, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, North First Street 2, Beijing, 100190, People's Republic of China, chenyi@iccas.ac.cn.
authors: Yi
authors: Y
authors: Chen
authors: Tao
authors: T
authors: Liao
authors: Can
authors: C
authors: Hu
mesh_terms: D000596:Amino Acids / Q000737:chemistry*; D046210:Microfluidic Analytical Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry; D010455:Peptides / Q000737:chemistry*; D012822:Silicon Dioxide / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D000596:Amino Acids; D010455:Peptides; D012822:Silicon Dioxide