@article{GrinsvenBonStrauvenetal.2012, author = {Grinsven, Bart van and Bon, Natalie vanden and Strauven, Hannelore and Grieten, Lars and Murib, Mohammed and Jim{\´e}nez Monroy, Kathia L. and Janssens, Stoffel D. and Haenen, Ken and Sch{\"o}ning, Michael Josef and Vermeeren, Veronique and Ameloot, Marcel and Michiels, Luc and Thoelen, Ronald and Ceuninck, Ward de and Wagner, Patrick}, title = {Heat-Transfer Resistance at Solid-Liquid Interfaces: A Tool for The Detection of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms in DNA.}, series = {ACS Nano}, volume = {6}, journal = {ACS Nano}, number = {3}, publisher = {ACS Publications}, address = {Washington, DC}, issn = {1936-086X}, doi = {10.1021/nn300147e}, pages = {2712 -- 2721}, year = {2012}, abstract = {In this article, we report on the heat-transfer resistance at interfaces as a novel, denaturation-based method to detect single-nucleotide polymorphisms in DNA. We observed that a molecular brush of double-stranded DNA grafted onto synthetic diamond surfaces does not notably affect the heat-transfer resistance at the solid-to-liquid interface. In contrast to this, molecular brushes of single-stranded DNA cause, surprisingly, a substantially higher heat-transfer resistance and behave like a thermally insulating layer. This effect can be utilized to identify ds-DNA melting temperatures via the switching from low- to high heat-transfer resistance. The melting temperatures identified with this method for different DNA duplexes (29 base pairs without and with built-in mutations) correlate nicely with data calculated by modeling. The method is fast, label-free (without the need for fluorescent or radioactive markers), allows for repetitive measurements, and can also be extended toward array formats. Reference measurements by confocal fluorescence microscopy and impedance spectroscopy confirm that the switching of heat-transfer resistance upon denaturation is indeed related to the thermal on-chip denaturation of DNA.}, language = {en} } @article{BaeckerRaueSchusseretal.2012, author = {B{\"a}cker, Matthias and Raue, Markus and Schusser, Sebastian and Jeitner, C. and Breuer, L. and Wagner, P. and Poghossian, Arshak and F{\"o}rster, Arnold and Mang, Thomas and Sch{\"o}ning, Michael Josef}, title = {Microfluidic chip with integrated microvalves based on temperature- and pH-responsive hydrogel thin films}, series = {Physica Status Solidi (a)}, volume = {209}, journal = {Physica Status Solidi (a)}, number = {5}, publisher = {Wiley-VCH}, address = {Weinheim}, issn = {1862-6319}, doi = {10.1002/pssa.201100763}, pages = {839 -- 845}, year = {2012}, abstract = {Two types of microvalves based on temperature-responsive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) and pH-responsive poly(sodium acrylate) (PSA) hydrogel films have been developed and tested. The PNIPAAm and PSA hydrogel films were prepared by means of in situ photopolymerization directly inside the fluidic channel of a microfluidic chip fabricated by combining Si and SU-8 technologies. The swelling/shrinking properties and height changes of the PNIPAAm and PSA films inside the fluidic channel were studied at temperatures of deionized water from 14 to 36 °C and different pH values (pH 3-12) of Titrisol buffer, respectively. Additionally, in separate experiments, the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of the PNIPAAm hydrogel was investigated by means of a differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) method. Mass-flow measurements have shown the feasibility of the prepared hydrogel films to work as an on-chip integrated temperature- or pH-responsive microvalve capable to switch the flow channel on/off.}, language = {en} }