A dual-droplet approach for measuring the hygroscopicity of aqueous aerosol

Accurate characterization of the water activity and hygroscopicity of aqueous aerosol material allows us to predict the chemical and physical state of aerosol particles exposed to humid conditions in the environment. The hygroscopicity of aerosol determines the size, phase morphology, viscosity, chemical reactivity, and optical properties of constituent particles and directly impacts their ability to form clouds in the atmosphere. In this work, we describe measurements of hygroscopicity using a linear quadrupole electrodynamic balance (LQ-EDB). We levitate two droplets, one droplet that acts as a relative humidity (RH) probe and one sample droplet, and expose them to controlled environmental conditions. We describe the development of an RH measurement using probe droplets of aqueous NaCl or LiCl, allowing for precise in situ measurements of RH in the LQ-EDB chamber. We demonstrate that the RH may be determined with an accuracy of 0.5 % at 50 % RH and better than 0.1 % at 90 % RH using NaCl, and we show that LiCl is effective at characterizing the RH from ∼ 10 % RH up to ∼ 90 %. We simultaneously measure the response of sample droplets containing aqueous material (including ammonium sulfate, citric acid, 1,2,6-hexanetriol, and tetra-ethylene glycol) and report hygroscopic growth via their radial growth factors. We use established thermodynamic models to validate the accuracy of the RH probe and to compare with the measured hygroscopicity of the samples. This approach shows significant advantages over other methods for accurately characterizing the hygroscopicity of samples with a range of characteristics, such as high viscosity and vapor pressure.

A Dual-Droplet Approach for Measuring the Hygroscopicity of Aqueous Aerosol

Accurate characterization of the water activity and hygroscopicity of aqueous aerosol material allows us to predict the chemical and physical state of aerosol particles exposed to humid conditions in the environment. The hygroscopicity of aerosol determines the size, phase morphology, viscosity, chemical reactivity, and optical properties of constituent particles, and directly impacts their ability to form clouds in the atmosphere. In this work, we describe measurements of hygroscopicity using a linear quadrupole electrodynamic balance (LQ-EDB). We levitate two droplets, one droplet that acts as a relative humidity (RH) probe and one sample droplet, and expose them to controlled environmental conditions. We describe the development of a RH measurement using probe droplets of aqueous NaCl or LiCl, allowing for precise in-situ measurements of RH in the LQ-EDB chamber. We demonstrate that the RH may be determined with an accuracy of 0.5 % at 50 % RH and better than 0.1 % at 90 % RH using NaCl, and show that LiCl is effective at characterizing the RH from ~10 % RH up to ~90 %. We simultaneously measure the response of sample droplets containing aqueous material (including ammonium sulfate, citric acid, 1,2,6-hexanetriol, and tetraethylene glycol) and report hygroscopic growth via their radial growth factors. We use established thermodynamic models to validate the accuracy of the RH probe and to compare with the measured hygroscopicity of the samples. This approach shows significant advantages over other methods for accurately characterizing the hygroscopicity of samples with a range of characteristics, such as high viscosity and vapor pressure.

Vibrational Spectroscopic Investigation of Blood Plasma and Serum by Drop Coating Deposition for Clinical Application

In recent decades, vibrational spectroscopic methods such as Raman and FT-IR spectroscopy are widely applied to investigate plasma and serum samples. These methods are combined with drop coating deposition techniques to pre-concentrate the biomolecules in the dried droplet to improve the detected vibrational signal. However, most often encountered challenge is the inhomogeneous redistribution of biomolecules due to the coffee-ring effect. In this study, the variation in biomolecule distribution within the dried-sample droplet has been investigated using Raman and FT-IR spectroscopy and fluorescence lifetime imaging method. The plasma-sample from healthy donors were investigated to show the spectral differences between the inner and outer-ring region of the dried-sample droplet. Further, the preferred location of deposition of the most abundant protein albumin in the blood during the drying process of the plasma has been illustrated by using deuterated albumin. Subsequently, two patients with different cardiac-related diseases were investigated exemplarily to illustrate the variation in the pattern of plasma and serum biomolecule distribution during the drying process and its impact on patient-stratification. The study shows that a uniform sampling position of the droplet, both at the inner and the outer ring, is necessary for thorough clinical characterization of the patient’s plasma and serum sample using vibrational spectroscopy.

Development of a Bead-Based Optoelectrokinetic Immunosensing Technique for Detection of Low-Abundance Analytes

Bead-based immunosensing has been growing as a promising technology in the point-of-care diagnostics because of great flexibility. For dilute samples, functionalized particles can be used to collect dispersed analytes and act as carriers for particle manipulation. To carry out rapid and selective diagnosis, a bead-based optoelectrokinetic immunosensing technique was developed herein to detect biomarkers, lipocalin 1 (LCN1) and TNF-α, for diabetic retinopathy (DR). The measurement was made in a sample droplet sandwiched between two parallel electrodes. With an electric field and a focused laser beam simultaneously applying on the microchip, the immunocomplexes in the droplet were further concentrated within the region of irradiation to enhance the fluorescent signal. The optoelectrokinetic platform, termed rapid electrokinetic patterning (REP), is excellent in dynamic and programmable particle manipulation. Therefore, the detection could be complete in roughly 10 s. With an appropriate frequency modulation, the two DR biomarkers were detected at a time. The limit of detection (LOD) of the REP-enabled measurement reached as low as 100 pg/mL. The combined use of bead-based immunoassays and the optoelectrokinetic platform therefore provides an insightful measure to the early diagnosis of diseases.

Dielectrophoresis Response and Manipulation of TiO2 Particles

This paper presents a device to investigate dielectrophoresis (DEP) effects through different patterns of the electrodes. Pattern of electrodes, DEP time and voltage have been described to research the manipulation of particles by dielectrophoresis. The TiO2sample droplet was dropped onto several electrode pairs using a micro-dropper. We succeeded in manipulating TiO2particles along the electric field and deposited them across the gaps between two electrodes by modulating different factors. SEM images were used to confirm the patterns of different electrodes.

Use of droplet plating method and cystine-lactose-lactng electrolyte-deficient medium in routine quantitative urine culturing procedure

Droplet plating of 0.01 ml of 10(-2) dilutions of mixed sonically treated urines onto cystine-lactose electrolyte-deficient agar permits formation of discrete, easily counted colonies within a small circumscribed area without interference by Proteus overswarm. Each colony is considered as arising from a single viable cell. The single dilution permits precise reproducible quantitation of urine bacteria population within the range 10(4) to 10(6) cells/ml of sample. Droplet-plated counts were found to be consistently (approximately) double those determined by standard pour plate quantitation. The method requires only inexpensive readily available materials and has been performed routinely in a large-volume clinical laboratory for several years.