Investigation of the photocatalytic lithographic deposition of metals in sealed microfluidic devices on TiO2 surfaces

摘要

The research presented within this dissertation explores the photocatalyticdeposition of metal carried out within sealed microfluidic channels. Micro scalepatterning of metals inside sealed microchannels is investigated as well as nanoscalecontrol over the surface morphology of the nanoparticles making up the patterns. This isachieved by controlling solution conditions during deposition. Finally, the nanoparticlepatterns are used in fabricating a sensor device, which demonstrates the ability toaddress multiple patches within a sealed channel with different surface chemistries.Also presented here is the construction of the first epifluorescence/total internalreflection macroscope. Its ability to carry out high numerical aperture imaging of largearrays of solid supported phospholipid bilayers is explored. For this, three experimentsare carried out. First, imaging of a 63 element array where every other box contains adifferent bilayer is preformed, demonstrating the ability to address large scale arrays byhand. Next, a protein binding experiment is preformed using two different arrays ofincreasing ligand density on the same chip. Finally, a two-dimensional array of mixed fluorescent dyes contained within solid supported lipid bilayers is imaged illustrating theability of the instrument to acquire fluorescent resonance energy transfer data.Additionally, the design and fabrication of an improved array chip andaddressing method is presented. Using this new array chip and addressing method inconjunction with the epifluorescence/total internal reflection macroscope should providean efficient platform for high throughput screening of important biological processeswhich occur at the surfaces of cell membranes.