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Membranes
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Microfluidics and MEMS Technology for Membranes II
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Microfluidics and MEMS Technology for Membranes II

A special issue of Membranes (ISSN 2077-0375). This special issue belongs to the section "Membrane Applications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 March 2023) | Viewed by 9069

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Jasmina Casals Terre

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Mechanical Engineering Department, Technical University of Catalonia-BarcelonaTech, 08034 Barcelona, Spain
Interests: microfluidics; MEMS; micro-particle image velocimetry; plasma separation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This second volume came as the natural consequence of the great success of the previous Special Issue "Microfluidics and MEMS Technology for Membranes".

Microfluidic technologies are key in the development of novel applications in different fields. In the field of separation, microfluidics-based nano- and micro-scale membranes or separation systems provide superior control over the physico-chemical characteristics of the final product. Microfluidics provide a physiological microenvironment close to reality capable of reproducing biological and physical properties (i.e., organ-on-chip) and use biomimetic approaches for separation or classification. Microfluidic systems are also the basis to reduce the time-to-market in the development of new diagnosis tools or even the first step towards personalized medicine. Furthermore, significant efforts have been devoted to the development of miniaturized systems for localized, controlled delivery of pharmaceutical agents to cells and/or tissues or for the separation of undesired particles. These are some of the applications where appropriate filtration to minute particles needs to be eliminated but microfluidic-membranes-based technology is expanding the number of applications to other fields and is more industry driven.

In view of the potential translation of this technology, further efforts should be devoted to: (i) improving scaling-up, high-throughput, operation robustness, and usability by non-specialized personnel; (ii) developing multi-modal delivery systems (i.e., for combined imaging, targeting and therapy, or combining sensing with actuation); (iii) design innovative, cost-effective materials compatible with long-term clinical and industrial applications.

In this Special Issue, we aim to showcase research papers, short communications, and review articles focusing on the development of microfluidics-based technologies applied to membranes relevant either for clinical safety, localized delivery/storage of target cells and/or tissues or particular points of interest in environment/system or industrial applications. We particularly welcome contributions dealing with ongoing challenges and focusing on translational research.

Prof. Dr. Jasmina Casals Terre
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Membranes is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • microfluidics
  • separation
  • microfiltration
  • nanoporous

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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16 pages, 2624 KiB  
Article
Stability and Thrombogenicity Analysis of Collagen/Carbon Nanotube Nanocomposite Coatings Using a Reversible Microfluidic Device
by Kristina D. Popovich, Sergey A. Vagner, Denis T. Murashko, Galina N. Ten, Dmitry I. Ryabkin, Mikhail S. Savelyev, Evgeny P. Kitsyuk, Ekaterina A. Gerasimenko, Polina Edelbekova, Anton N. Konovalov, Dmitry V. Telyshev, Sergey V. Selishchev and Alexander Yu. Gerasimenko
Membranes 2023, 13(4), 403; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes13040403 - 01 Apr 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1681
Abstract
Currently, the development of stable and antithrombogenic coatings for cardiovascular implants is socially important. This is especially important for coatings exposed to high shear stress from flowing blood, such as those on ventricular assist devices. A method of layer-by-layer formation of nanocomposite coatings [...] Read more.
Currently, the development of stable and antithrombogenic coatings for cardiovascular implants is socially important. This is especially important for coatings exposed to high shear stress from flowing blood, such as those on ventricular assist devices. A method of layer-by-layer formation of nanocomposite coatings based on multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) in a collagen matrix is proposed. A reversible microfluidic device with a wide range of flow shear stresses has been developed for hemodynamic experiments. The dependence of the resistance on the presence of a cross-linking agent for collagen chains in the composition of the coating was demonstrated. Optical profilometry determined that collagen/c-MWCNT and collagen/c-MWCNT/glutaraldehyde coatings obtained sufficiently high resistance to high shear stress flow. However, the collagen/c-MWCNT/glutaraldehyde coating was almost twice as resistant to a phosphate-buffered solution flow. A reversible microfluidic device made it possible to assess the level of thrombogenicity of the coatings by the level of blood albumin protein adhesion to the coatings. Raman spectroscopy demonstrated that the adhesion of albumin to collagen/c-MWCNT and collagen/c-MWCNT/glutaraldehyde coatings is 1.7 and 1.4 times lower than the adhesion of protein to a titanium surface, widely used for ventricular assist devices. Scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy determined that blood protein was least detected on the collagen/c-MWCNT coating, which contained no cross-linking agent, including in comparison with the titanium surface. Thus, a reversible microfluidic device is suitable for preliminary testing of the resistance and thrombogenicity of various coatings and membranes, and nanocomposite coatings based on collagen and c-MWCNT are suitable candidates for the development of cardiovascular devices. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microfluidics and MEMS Technology for Membranes II)
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21 pages, 4289 KiB  
Article
Porous Cellulose Substrate Study to Improve the Performance of Diffusion-Based Ionic Strength Sensors
by Hamid Khosravi, Pouya Mehrdel, Joan Antoni López Martínez and Jasmina Casals-Terré
Membranes 2022, 12(11), 1074; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes12111074 - 29 Oct 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1647
Abstract
Microfluidic paper-based analytical devices (µPADs) are leading the field of low-cost, quantitative in-situ assays. However, understanding the flow behavior in cellulose-based membranes to achieve an accurate and rapid response has remained a challenge. Previous studies focused on commercial filter papers, and one of [...] Read more.
Microfluidic paper-based analytical devices (µPADs) are leading the field of low-cost, quantitative in-situ assays. However, understanding the flow behavior in cellulose-based membranes to achieve an accurate and rapid response has remained a challenge. Previous studies focused on commercial filter papers, and one of their problems was the time required to perform the test. This work studies the effect of different cellulose substrates on diffusion-based sensor performance. A diffusion-based sensor was laser cut on different cellulose fibers (Whatman and lab-made Sisal papers) with different structure characteristics, such as basis weight, density, pore size, fiber diameter, and length. Better sensitivity and faster response are found in papers with bigger pore sizes and lower basis weights. The designed sensor has been successfully used to quantify the ionic concentration of commercial wines with a 13.6 mM limit of detection in 30 s. The developed µPAD can be used in quantitative assays for agri-food applications without the need for any external equipment or trained personnel. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microfluidics and MEMS Technology for Membranes II)
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14 pages, 14070 KiB  
Article
Toward Suppressing Charge Trapping Based on a Combined Driving Waveform with an AC Reset Signal for Electro-Fluidic Displays
by Zhengxing Long, Zichuan Yi, Hu Zhang, Liming Liu and Lingling Shui
Membranes 2022, 12(11), 1072; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes12111072 - 29 Oct 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1107
Abstract
Digital microfluidic technology based on the principle of electrowetting is developing rapidly. As an extension of this technology, electro-fluidic displays (EFDs) have gradually become a novel type of display devices, whose grayscales can be displayed by controlling oil film in pixels with a [...] Read more.
Digital microfluidic technology based on the principle of electrowetting is developing rapidly. As an extension of this technology, electro-fluidic displays (EFDs) have gradually become a novel type of display devices, whose grayscales can be displayed by controlling oil film in pixels with a microelectromechanical system (MEMS). Nevertheless, charge trapping can occur during EFDs’ driving process, which will produce the leakage current and seriously affect the performance of EFDs. Thus, an efficient driving waveform was proposed to resolve these defects in EFDs. It consisted of a driving stage and a stabilizing stage. Firstly, the response time of oil film was shortened by applying an overdriving voltage in the driving stage according to the principle of the electrowetting. Then, a direct current (DC) voltage was designed to display a target luminance by analyzing leakage current-voltage curves and a dielectric loss factor. Finally, an alternating current (AC) reset signal was applied in the stabilizing stage to suppress the charge trapping effect. The experiment results indicated that compared with a driving waveform with a reset signal and a combined driving waveform, the average luminance was improved by 3.4% and 9.7%, and the response time was reduced by 29.63% and 51.54%, respectively. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microfluidics and MEMS Technology for Membranes II)
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14 pages, 5092 KiB  
Article
Solution-Processed Silicon Doped Tin Oxide Thin Films and Thin-Film Transistors Based on Tetraethyl Orthosilicate
by Ziyan He, Xu Zhang, Xiaoqin Wei, Dongxiang Luo, Honglong Ning, Qiannan Ye, Renxu Wu, Yao Guo, Rihui Yao and Junbiao Peng
Membranes 2022, 12(6), 590; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes12060590 - 01 Jun 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2047
Abstract
Recently, tin oxide (SnO2) has been the preferred thin film material for semiconductor devices such as thin-film transistors (TFTs) due to its low cost, non-toxicity, and superior electrical performance. However, the high oxygen vacancy (VO) concentration leads to poor [...] Read more.
Recently, tin oxide (SnO2) has been the preferred thin film material for semiconductor devices such as thin-film transistors (TFTs) due to its low cost, non-toxicity, and superior electrical performance. However, the high oxygen vacancy (VO) concentration leads to poor performance of SnO2 thin films and devices. In this paper, with tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) as the Si source, which can decompose to release heat and supply energy when annealing, Si doped SnO2 (STO) films and inverted staggered STO TFTs were successfully fabricated by a solution method. An XPS analysis showed that Si doping can effectively inhibit the formation of VO, thus reducing the carrier concentration and improving the quality of SnO2 films. In addition, the heat released from TEOS can modestly lower the preparation temperature of STO films. By optimizing the annealing temperature and Si doping content, 350 °C annealed STO TFTs with 5 at.% Si exhibited the best device performance: Ioff was as low as 10−10 A, Ion/Ioff reached a magnitude of 104, and Von was 1.51 V. Utilizing TEOS as an Si source has a certain reference significance for solution-processed metal oxide thin films in the future. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microfluidics and MEMS Technology for Membranes II)
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Review

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18 pages, 5213 KiB  
Review
From Traditional to Novel Printed Electrochromic Devices: Material, Structure and Device
by Qingyue Cai, Haoyang Yan, Rihui Yao, Dongxiang Luo, Muyun Li, Jinyao Zhong, Yuexin Yang, Tian Qiu, Honglong Ning and Junbiao Peng
Membranes 2022, 12(11), 1039; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes12111039 - 25 Oct 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 1917
Abstract
Electrochromic materials have been considered as a new way to achieve energy savings in the building sector due to their potential applications in smart windows, cars, aircrafts, etc. However, the high cost of manufacturing ECDs using the conventional manufacturing methods has limited its [...] Read more.
Electrochromic materials have been considered as a new way to achieve energy savings in the building sector due to their potential applications in smart windows, cars, aircrafts, etc. However, the high cost of manufacturing ECDs using the conventional manufacturing methods has limited its commercialization. It is the advantages of low cost as well as resource saving, green environment protection, flexibility and large area production that make printing electronic technology fit for manufacturing electrochromic devices. This paper reviews the progress of research on printed electrochromic devices (ECDs), detailing the preparation of ECDs by screen printing, inkjet printing and 3D printing, using the scientific properties of discrete definition printing method. Up to now, screen printing holds the largest share in the electrochromic industry due to its low cost and large ink output nature, which makes it suitable especially for printing on large surfaces. Though inkjet printing has the advantages of high precision and the highest coloration efficiency (CE) can be up to 542 ± 10 cm2C–1, it has developed smoothly, and has not shown rigid needs. Inkjet printing is suitable for the personalized printing production of high precision and small batch electronic devices. Since 3D printing is a new manufacturing technology in the 21st century, with the characteristics of integrated molding and being highly controllable, which make it suitable for customized printing of complex devices, such as all kinds of sensors, it has gained increasing attention in the past decade. Finally, the possibility of combining screen printing with inkjet printing to produce high performance ECDs is discussed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microfluidics and MEMS Technology for Membranes II)
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