Manipulation, separation and characterization of biocolloids using chemical gradients
Sangwoo Shin
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA
sangwoos@hawaii.edu
Abstract
Conventional electrophoretic manipulation, separation, and characterization of biocolloids such as cells, vesicles, macromolecules, and nanoparticles require electrodes, power supplies, and other bulky/expensive peripherals that often limit its utility and cause drawbacks such as electrolysis and Joule heating. Diffusiophoresis, which describes the motion of colloidal particles induced by chemical gradients, is free from all of these downsides and thus potentially suitable for portable, wireless, and point-of-care diagnostics platforms. Despite the long history of diffusiophoresis, it is only recently that diffusiophoresis has gained a renewed interest in the soft matter community. Such a resurgence is, in part, due to the recognition that diffusiophoresis may enable useful applications that are otherwise difficult to achieve or can be augmented by it such as bioseparation and bioanalysis. In this talk, I will showcase several examples in which localized chemical gradients in microfluidic devices can be exploited to manipulate the motion of biocolloids via diffusiophoresis for achieving low-cost separation and characterization.
Short Bio
Sangwoo Shin received his B.S. and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Yonsei University in 2005 and 2012, respectively. He is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Prior to joining University of Hawaii, he was a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Princeton University from 2013 to 2016. His research focuses on understanding and utilizing the non-equilibrium dynamics of complex fluids and soft matter in biomedical and energy/environmental systems.