• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• 제57권2호
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• pp.149-163
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• 2019

영구 또는 유도 쌍극자를 가지는 물질은 불균일한 전기장 하에서 전기장의 구배 방향을 따라 힘을 받게 되는데, 이 힘에 의한 물질의 이동을 유전영동(dielectrophoresis, DEP)이라 한다. DEP 힘의 크기와 방향은 입자와 매질의 유전율과 전도도, 그리고 가해지는 교류 전기장의 주파수에 의해 영향을 받게 되므로, 이러한 변수를 제어함으로써 입자의 이동을 정확하게 조작할 수 있다. 또한, 전기영동과는 달리 쌍극자가 유도되는 모든 입자에 적용이 가능하다는 장점이 있다. 이러한 DEP 기술은 미세 유체 공학은 물론 바이오 센서, 마이크로 칩 분야 등 다양한 분야에서 활용되고 있다. 본 논문은 먼저 DEP의 기본원리를 설명하고, DEP를 이용한 연구에서 주로 사용되는 대표적인 마이크로 전극의 구조에 대해 논의한다. 그리고, DEP의 대표적 응용분야인 입자의 분리 및 포집, 자기조립(self-assembly) 연구를 소개한다.

• 한국산학기술학회논문지
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• 제22권1호
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• pp.81-86
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• 2021

화장품 산업은 정밀화학분야로 기술집약적인 산업이며 세계적으로 지속적인 성장률을 보이고 있다. 이러한 화장품 산업에서 시장 점유율을 높이기 위해 과거에는 기능적 측면이 주로 강조가 되어 왔으나, 최근에는 국내외적으로 화장품의 우수한 성능과 더불어 시각적 효과로 소비자의 관심을 유도하려는 노력이 고조되고 있다. 이에 따라 화장품 제조업체에서는 화장품 에멀젼을 캡슐화하고 에멀젼 캡슐의 형태, 색상 및 질감 등을 다양하게 변형시킬 수 있는 기술을 다방면으로 시도하고 있는 상황이다. 에멀젼을 캡슐화하는 기본 방식은 에멀젼 저장소에 에멀젼을 채워 넣고 노즐을 통해 에멀젼을 낙하시키는 방법으로 업체에서 가장 쉽게 이용할 수 있다. 그러나, 에멀젼을 캡슐레이션하는 기존 방식은 캡슐의 사이즈를 줄이는 데 한계가 있다. 본 연구에서는 이러한 기존 방식의 한계를 이론 및 수치해석방법으로 고찰하였으며, 이러한 방식의 문제를 해결하기 위한 대안책으로 미세유체역학(Microfluidics)을 적용하기 위하여 마이크로 채널 내에서 발생하는 에멀젼 캡슐레이션 현상을 연구하였다.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• 제59권1호
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• pp.77-82
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• 2021

As malaria remains a major health problem worldwide, various diagnostic tests have been developed, including microscopy-based and rapid diagnostic tests. LabChip real-time PCR (LRP) is a small and portable device used to diagnose malaria using lab-on-a-chip technology. This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic performance of LRP for detecting malaria parasites. Two hundred thirteen patients and 150 healthy individuals were enrolled from May 2009 to October 2015. A diagnostic detectability of LRP for malaria parasites was compared to that of conventional RT-PCR. Sensitivity of LRP for Plasmodium vivax, P. falciparum, P. malariae, and P. ovale was 95.5%, 96.0%, 100%, and 100%, respectively. Specificity of LRP for P. vivax, P. falciparum, P. malariae, and P. ovale was 100%, 99.3%, 100%, and 100%, respectively. Cohen's Kappa coefficients between LRP and CFX96 for detecting P. vivax, P. falciparum, P. malariae, and P. ovale were 0.96, 0.98, 1.00, and 1.00, respectively. Significant difference was not observed between the results of LRP and conventional RT-PCR and microscopic examination. A time required to amplify DNAs using LRP and conventional RT-PCR was 27 min and 86 min, respectively. LRP amplified DNAs 2 times more fast than conventional RT-PCR due to the faster heat transfer. Therefore, LRP could be employed as a useful tool for detecting malaria parasites in clinical laboratories.

• 공업화학
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• 제34권1호
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• pp.45-50
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• 2023

마이크로 유체 시스템을 활용한 농축 기술은 저과다 분석물을 특정 위치에 모으거나 추출하는 기술로, 의료 및 바이오 분야를 포함한 다양한 분야에서 필수적인 기술로 각광받고 있다. 본 연구에서는 이온교환막을 활용한 전기막 시스템(electromembrane system)에서 전기영동(electrophoresis) 현상을 이용해 타겟 샘플을 농축할 때 고려해야 할 변수에 대한 광범위한 연구를 수행하였다. 가시화가 용이한 형광염료로 음전하를 띄는 Alexa Fluor 488과 양전하를 띄는 Rhodamine 6G을 샘플로 사용하여, 타겟 샘플이 포함된 메인 채널의 유속과 메인/버퍼 채널의 농도, 전압 등이 샘플 농축에 어떻게 영향을 끼치는지 알아보았다. 실험 결과, 메인/버퍼 채널 농도비가 같을 경우, 유속이 느릴수록, 샘플이 포함된 메인 채널의 농도가 높을수록, 타겟 샘플의 농축이 훨씬 더 잘 일어난다는 사실을 알 수 있었다. 또한 본 연구를 통해 Alexa Fluor 488과 Rhodamine 6G의 전기영동 이동도 값을 실험적으로 계산하여 비교하였다.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• 제61권2호
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• pp.247-257
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• 2023

본 연구에서는 이미지 분석 프로그램을 통해 액적 내 박테리아 세포의 개수를 측정하는 코딩-기반의 자동화된 세포 계수 방법을 제시하였다. 먼저, 형광 이미지 기반의 분석을 위하여, 형광단백질을 발현하는 균주를 담지한 액적을 형성하고 이를 광학 및 형광 현미경을 이용하여 분석 결과를 나타냈다. 액적의 관찰을 용이하게 위하여 유리 그리드에 도포하고, 촬영한 광학 이미지를 통해 분석하고자 하는 영역(Region of Interest)을 지정하였다. 동일한 위치에서 촬영한 형광 이미지에서 앞서 지정된 영역 속 특정 임계 값을 넘는 형광 신호를 계수하여 세포 수를 정량화 하였다. 또한 서로 다른 농도의 항생제를 처리한 액적 내 박테리아의 시간에 따른 세포 개수 변화의 차이를 추적하였다. 30분 간격으로 동일한 위치에서의 형광 이미지들을 동시에 분석함으로써 시간에 따른 세포 개수 변화를 도출하였고, 본 계수법의 성능을 실험적으로 검증하였다. 본 논문의 방법은 외부 분석 프로그램을 이용한 기존 방법 대비 분석 시간을 15배 가량 단축하고, 99%의 정확도를 보이는 것으로 확인되었다. 더 나아가 사용자의 연구의 방향에 맞춰 제시된 코드의 확장 수정을 통해 다양한 종류의 세포 계수 연구에 도움이 될 것으로 기대된다.

• 한국재료학회지
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• 제33권1호
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• pp.21-28
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• 2023

The electromembrane process, which has advantages such as scalability, sustainability, and eco-friendliness, is used in renewable energy fields such as fuel cells and reverse electrodialysis power generation. Most of the research to visualize the internal flow in the electromembrane process has mainly been conducted on heterogeneous ion exchange membranes, because of the non-uniform swelling characteristics of the homogeneous membrane. In this study, we successfully visualize the electro-convective vortices near the Nafion homogeneous membrane in PDMS-based microfluidic devices. To reinforce the mechanical rigidity and minimize the non-uniform swelling characteristics of the homogeneous membrane, a newly developed swelling supporter was additionally adapted to the Nafion membrane. Thus, a clear image of electroconvective vortices near the Nafion membrane could be obtained and visualized. As a result, we observed that the heterogeneous membrane has relatively stronger electroconvective vortices compared to the Nafion homogeneous membranes. Regarding electrical response, the Nafion membrane has a higher limiting current and less overlimiting current compared to the heterogeneous membrane. Based on our visualization, it is assumed that the heterogeneous membrane has more activated electroconvective vortices, which lower electrical resistance in the overlimiting current regime. We anticipate that this work can contribute to the fundamental understanding of the ion transport characteristics depending on the homogeneity of ion exchange membranes.

• 센서학회지
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• 제31권3호
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• pp.175-179
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• 2022

The physical properties of biomaterials are important for their isolation and separation from body fluids. In particular, the precise evaluation of the multi-physical properties of single biomolecules is essential in that the correlation between physical and biological properties of specific biomolecule. However, the majority of scientific equipment, can only determine specific-physical properties of single nanoparticles, making the evaluation of the multi-physical properties difficult. The improvement of analytical techniques for the evaluation of multi-physical properties is therefore required in various research fields. In this study, we developed a motion-tracking algorithm to evaluate the multi-physical properties of single-nanoparticles by analyzing their behavior. We observed the Brownian motion and electric-field-induced drift of fluorescent nanoparticles injected in a microfluidic chip with two electrodes using confocal microscopy. The proposed algorithm is able to determine the size of the nanoparticles by i) removing the background noise from images, ii) tracking the motion of nanoparticles using the circular-Hough transform, iii) extracting the mean squared displacement (MSD) of the tracked nanoparticles, and iv) applying the MSD to the Stokes-Einstein equation. We compared the evaluated size of the nanoparticles with the size measured by SEM. We also determined the zeta-potential and surface-charge density of the nanoparticles using the extracted electrophoretic velocity and the Helmholtz-Smoluchowski equation. The proposed motion-tracking algorithm could be employed in various fields related to biomaterial analysis, such as exosome analysis.

• 한국건축시공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국건축시공학회 2022년도 가을 학술논문 발표대회
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• pp.241-242
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• 2022

Recently, related studies on the application of bacterial spores to self-healing concrete have been widely reported. Using the self-healing method of bacterial spores as a kind of pro-environment, the green method is very attractive, but because the living environment of bacterial spores is relatively harsh, it is necessary to have a way to separate the living environment of bacterial spores from the harsh external environment, And release bacterial spores when needed. Therefore, capsules are widely used in self-healing concrete. To enhance the self-healing effect, the capsules need to be evenly distributed in the concrete. Furthermore, we develop a CIP-based smart capsule with controllability. We determined the magnetic force of each capsule by mixing CIP in resin, then mass-fabricating the capsules for self-healing by a microfluidic method, and by measuring the kinetic distance of the capsules containing different amounts of cip under the action of a magnetic field strength. The results show that with the increase of the amount of cip, the active distance of the capsule also increases. When the cip is 8wt%, the active distance reaches 1.75cm. We believe this research can provide momentum for the development of self-healing capsule applications.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• 제39권5호
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• pp.197-202
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• 2023

Recently, research on experimental and analytical techniques utilizing microfluidic devices has been pursued. For example, lab-on-a-chip devices that integrate micro-devices onto a single chip for processing small sample quantities have gained significant attention. However, during sample preparation, unnecessary gases can be introduced into the internal channels, thus, impeding device flow and compromising specific function efficiency, including that of analysis and separation. Several methods have been proposed to mitigate this issue, however, many involve cumbersome procedures or suffer from complexities owing to intricate structures. Recently, some approaches have been introduced that utilize hydrophobic device structures to remove gases within channels. In such cases, the permeability of gases passing through the structure becomes a crucial performance factor. In this study, a method involving the deposition and sintering of diluted Ag-ink onto a silicon wafer surface is presented. This is followed by unstructured nano-pattern creation using a Metal Assisted Chemical Etching (MACE) process, which yields a nanostructured surface with unstructured pillar shapes. Subsequently, gas permeability in the spaces formed by these surface structures is investigated. This is achieved by experiments conducted to incorporate a pressure chamber and measure gas permeability. Trends are subsequently analyzed by comparing the results with existing theories. Finally, it can be confirmed that the significance of this study primarily lies in its capability to effectively evaluate gas permeability through unstructured pillar-like nanostructures, thus, providing quantitative values for the appropriate driving pressure and expected gas removal time in practical device operation.

• Journal of Veterinary Science
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• 제25권3호
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• pp.40.1-40.19
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• 2024

Importance: The creation of robust maternal-embryonic interactions and implantation models is important for comprehending the early stages of embryonic development and reproductive disorders. Traditional two-dimensional (2D) cell culture systems often fail to accurately mimic the highly complex in vivo conditions. The employment of three-dimensional (3D) organoids has emerged as a promising strategy to overcome these limitations in recent years. The advancements in the field of organoid technology have opened new avenues for studying the physiology and diseases affecting female reproductive tract. Observations: This review summarizes the current strategies and advancements in the field of 3D organoids to establish maternal-embryonic interaction and implantation models for use in research and personalized medicine in assisted reproductive technology. The concepts of endometrial organoids, menstrual blood flow organoids, placental trophoblast organoids, stem cell-derived blastoids, and in vitro-generated embryo models are discussed in detail. We show the incorportaion of organoid systems and microfluidic technology to enhance tissue performance and precise management of the cellular surroundings. Conclusions and Relevance: This review provides insights into the future direction of modeling maternal-embryonic interaction research and its combination with other powerful technologies to interfere with this dialogue either by promoting or hindering it for improving fertility or methods for contraception, respectively. The merging of organoid systems with microfluidics facilitates the creation of sophisticated and functional organoid models, enhancing insights into organ development, disease mechanisms, and personalized medical investigations.