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Dispensing nano–pico droplets and liquid patterning by pyroelectrodynamic shooting

Nature Nanotechnology volume 5, pages 429–435 (2010)Cite this article

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Abstract

Manipulating and dispensing liquids on the micrometre- and nanoscale is important in biotechnology and combinatorial chemistry, and also for patterning inorganic, organic and biological inks. Several methods for dispensing liquids exist, but many require complicated electrodes and high-voltage circuits. Here, we show a simple way to draw attolitre liquid droplets from one or multiple sessile drops or liquid film reservoirs using a pyroelectrohydrodynamic dispenser. Local pyroelectric forces, which are activated by scanning a hot tip or an infrared laser beam over a lithium niobate substrate, draw liquid droplets from the reservoir below the substrate, and deposit them on the underside of the lithium niobate substrate. The shooting direction is altered by moving the hot tip or laser to form various patterns at different angles and locations. Our system does not require electrodes, nozzles or circuits, and is expected to have many applications in biochemical assays and various transport and mixing processes.

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Figure 1: Pyroelectrohydrodynamic dispenser.
Figure 2: Functionalities of the dispensing gun.
Figure 3: Additional functionalities.
Figure 4: Dispensing nanolitre droplets for liquid patterning.
Figure 5: Nanoscale droplets.
Figure 6: Daughter droplets of specific suspensions.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge financial support from grant CNR-RSTL (Ricerca Spontanea a Tema Libero) no. 3004 ‘Realizzazione e caratterizzazione di nanostrutture ordinate in cristalli ferroelettrici per la fotonica e studio delle funzionalità’ and Grant ‘Intesa di programma MIUR/CNR per il Mezzogiorno’.

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  1. CNR Istituto Nazionale di Ottica–Sezione di Napoli Via Campi Flegrei, 34–80078 Pozzuoli (Napoli), Italy

    P. Ferraro, S. Coppola, S. Grilli, M. Paturzo & V. Vespini

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  1. P. Ferraro
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Contributions

P.F. and S.G. conceived and designed the experiments. S.C. and V.V. performed the experiments and analysed the data. M.P. and S.C. performed numerical simulations. P.F. and S.G. co-wrote the paper. All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to P. Ferraro or S. Grilli.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Ferraro, P., Coppola, S., Grilli, S. et al. Dispensing nano–pico droplets and liquid patterning by pyroelectrodynamic shooting. Nature Nanotech 5, 429–435 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2010.82

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