Control and detection of chemical reactions in microfluidic systems

• Published in: Nature Vol. 442; no. 7101; pp. 394 - 402
• Main Author: deMello, Andrew J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing 27.07.2006; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: Analytical chemistry; Biological and medical sciences; Chemical reactions; Chemical reactors; Chemical synthesis; Combinatorial Chemistry Techniques; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General aspects; Instrumentation. Materials. Reagents. Research laboratory organization; Microchemistry - instrumentation; Microchemistry - methods; Microfluidics - instrumentation; Microfluidics - methods; Miniaturization; Molecular biology; Process controls; Lab-on-a-chip; Chemical reaction; Microfluidics; Nanotechnology
• ISSN: 0028-0836; 1476-4687; 1476-4679
• DOI: 10.1038/nature05062

Recent years have seen considerable progress in the development of microfabricated systems for use in the chemical and biological sciences. Much development has been driven by a need to perform rapid measurements on small sample volumes. However, at a more primary level, interest in miniaturized analytical systems has been stimulated by the fact that physical processes can be more easily controlled and harnessed when instrumental dimensions are reduced to the micrometre scale. Such systems define new operational paradigms and provide predictions about how molecular synthesis might be revolutionized in the fields of high-throughput synthesis and chemical production.