Issue 7, 2019

Array based real-time measurement of fluid viscosities and mass-densities to monitor biological filament formation

Abstract

Liquid mass density and viscosity are fundamental characteristics of fluids. Their quantification by means of classical viscosity and density meters has several drawbacks: (i) the liquid-density and the viscosity cannot be measured simultaneously, (ii) sample volumes in the mL-range are consumed, (iii) the measurements cannot be multiplexed, and, (iv) the quantifications are time-consuming (minutes). Nano-mechanical transducers promise to overcome these limitations. We use fully clamped, gold coated silicon-nitride membranes with a thickness of 200 nm to measure liquid viscosity and density of samples of 1 μL volumes residing above the membrane in a miniature well. Photo-thermal actuation is used to excite the membrane, and an optical deflection system measures the response. From the response spectra, the eigenfrequency (f) and the quality (Q) factor are extracted and used to determine liquid density and viscosity by applying a three-point calibrated, simplified lumped model. We tested the system using calibrated solutions with viscosities in the range of 1–219 mPa s and mass densities between 998 kg m−3 and 1235 kg m−3. Real-time measurements were performed that characterize the polymerization of G-actin to F-actin filaments. The method presented promises to overcome the aforementioned limitations and thereby enables the real-time characterization of sub-μL sample volumes in a multiplexed manner.

Graphical abstract: Array based real-time measurement of fluid viscosities and mass-densities to monitor biological filament formation

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
10 dek 2018
Accepted
03 mar 2019
First published
04 mar 2019
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Lab Chip, 2019,19, 1305-1314

Array based real-time measurement of fluid viscosities and mass-densities to monitor biological filament formation

P. Oliva, B. A. Bircher, C. Schoenenberger and T. Braun, Lab Chip, 2019, 19, 1305 DOI: 10.1039/C8LC01343H

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications, without requesting further permission from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given and it is not used for commercial purposes.

To request permission to reproduce material from this article in a commercial publication, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party commercial publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements