Clog-free high-throughput microfluidic cell isolation with multifunctional microposts.

Microfluidics have been applied to filtration of rare tumor cells from the blood as liquid biopsies. Processing is highly limited by low flow rates and device clogging due to a single function of fluidic paths. A novel method using multifunctional hybrid functional microposts was developed. A swift by-passing route for non-tumor cells was integrated to prevent very common clogging problems. Performance was characterized using microbeads (10 µm) and human cancer cells that were spiked in human blood. Design-I showed a capture efficiency of 96% for microbeads and 87% for cancer cells at 1 ml/min flow rate. An improved Design-II presented a higher capture efficiency of 100% for microbeads and 96% for cancer cells. Our method of utilizing various microfluidic functions of separation, bypass and capture has successfully guaranteed highly efficient separation of rare cells from biological fluids.

Self-healing effects in a semi-ordered liquid for stable electronic conversion of high-energy radiation.

Radiation damage in solid-state semiconductors has, until now, placed strict limitations on the acceptable decay energies of radioisotopes in radiovoltaic cells. Relegation to low-energy beta-emitting isotopes has minimized the power output from these devices and limited the technology's ability to deliver greater energy densities and longer lifetimes than conventional batteries. We demonstrate the self-healing abilities of a liquid-phase semiconducting alloy which can withstand high-energy alpha radiation. Neutron diffraction of liquid selenium-sulfur shows the liquid phase repairing damage sustained in the irradiation of the solid phase. This self-healing behavior results in long-lived power output in a liquid selenium-sulfur alphavoltaic cell. To the best of our knowledge, this marks the only successful demonstration of resistance to high-energy radiation (>500 keV) in a semiconducting material. This new robustness can potentially allow increases to the available energy density in radiovoltaic cells near 1000 times the current state of the art.