Micro‐Droplets Parameters Monitoring in a Microfluidic Chip via Liquid‐Solid Triboelectric Nanogenerator

作者：Wenkai Liu, Hengyu Li, Qi Gao, Da Zhao, Yang Yu, Qin Xiang, Xiaojun Cheng, Zhong Lin Wang, Wei Long, Tinghai Cheng · 发表于：Advanced Materials · 年份：2023 · DOI：10.1002/adma.202307184 · 被引用次数：54 · 研究领域：Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials、Nanomaterials and Printing Technologies、Surface Modification and Superhydrophobicity

Abstract The monitoring of micro‐droplets parameters is significant to the development of droplet microfluidics. However, existing monitoring methods have drawbacks such as high cost, interference with droplet movement, and even the potential for cross‐contamination. Herein, a micro‐droplets monitoring method (MDMM) based on liquid‐solid triboelectric nanogenerator (LS‐TENG) is proposed, which can realize non‐invasive and self‐powered monitoring of micro‐droplets in a microfluidic chip. The droplet frequency is monitored by voltage pulse frequency and a mathematical model is established to monitor the droplet length and velocity. Furthermore, this work constructs micro‐droplets sensor (MDS) based on the MDMM to carry out the experiment. The coefficients of determination ( R 2 ) of the fitting curves of the micro‐droplets frequency, length, and velocity monitoring are 0.998, 0.997, and 0.995, respectively. To prove the universal applicability of the MDMM, the micro‐droplets generated by different liquid media and channel structures are monitored. Eventually, a micro‐droplet monitoring system is built, which can realize the counting of micro‐droplets and the monitoring of droplet frequency and length. This work provides a novel approach for monitoring micro‐droplets parameters, which holds the potential to advance developments in the field of microfluidics.