Trung-Dung Dang

Bio-silica coated with amorphous manganese oxide as an efficient catalyst for rapid degradation of organic pollutant

A novel rapid green one-step method is developed for the preparation of bio-silica coated with amorphous MnO2 nanoparticles by treating bio-silica with an acidic permanganate solution. The method developed has the advantage of selectively coating the surface of either one or both sides of the porous silica structure with a thin catalytic active amorphous MnO2 layer in a controlled way. The uncoated and MnO2 coated bio-silica are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The catalytic activity of amorphous MnO2-coated bio-silica is examined by degrading organic dye at ambient condition. The as-synthesized samples show highly efficient and rapid degradation of Rhodamine B. The simplicity and cost-effectiveness of the materials and method can be very useful for highly efficient degradation of organic pollutants for environmental remediation.

Preparation of tadpole-shaped calcium alginate microparticles with sphericity control

Monosized sodium alginate microdroplets are prepared using a flow-focusing microdevice by adjusting the flow rate of the continuous phase (soybean oil) and the dispersed phase (sodium alginate solution). The gelation process of the semi-product, sodium alginate microdroplets, occurs outside the channel in a calcium chloride solution to form tadpole-shaped calcium alginate microparticles. The microparticles prepared are in the range of 100-250 μm in diameter, depending on the experimental conditions. The shape, size and size distribution of these calcium alginate microparticles depend strongly on the calcium solution concentration and the stirring mode. The shaping mechanism of the microparticles and the impact of the experimental conditions on particle shape and size are investigated.

A novel simple preparation method of a hydrogel mold for PDMS micro-fluidic device fabrication

A novel method to prepare a very thick master mold for poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) casting was investigated by using a hydrogel ultraviolet (UV) curing process through a film mask. A simple process of dispensing of hydrogel, UV curing through a photomask and rinsing enabled the construction of micro-hydrogel structures in a fast manner. These hydrogel structures can be used as a mold for PDMS casting for PDMS fluidic chip fabrication. This method allows the fast construction of very thick micro-structures more than 1 mm. The characterizations about vertical sidewall and adhesion enhancement between the substrate and micro-structures were studied. The application of a PDMS fluidic chip, which was prepared from the hydrogel mold by PDMS casting, to some fluidic flow rate tests was demonstrated. This method is fast and simple to prepare a PDMS casting mold at low cost and can be applied in micro-fabrication of biochemical chips and micro-fluidic devices.

A numerical study on the dynamics of droplet formation in a microfluidic double T-junction

In this study, droplet formations in microfluidic double T-junctions (MFDTD) are investigated based on a two-dimensional numerical model with volume of fluid method. Parametric ranges for generating alternating droplet formation (ADF) are identified. A physical background responsible for the ADF is suggested by analyzing the dynamical stability of flow system. Since the phase discrepancy between dispersed flows is mainly caused by non-symmetrical breaking of merging droplet, merging regime becomes the alternating regime at appropriate conditions. In addition, the effects of channel geometries on droplet formation are studied in terms of relative channel width. The predicted results show that the ADF region is shifted toward lower capillary numbers when channel width ratio is less than unity. The alternating droplet size increases with the increase of channel width ratio. When this ratio reaches unity, alternating droplets can be formed at very high water fraction (wf = 0.8). The droplet formation in MFDTD depends significantly on the viscosity ratio, and the droplet size in ADF decreases with the increase of the viscosity ratio. The understanding of underlying physics of the ADF phenomenon is useful for many applications, including nanoparticle synthesis with different concentrations, hydrogel bead generation, and cell transplantation in biomedical therapy.

Synthesis of nanostructured manganese oxides based materials and application for supercapacitor

Manganese oxides are important materials with a variety of applications in different fields such as chemical sensing devices, magnetic devices, field-emission devices, catalysis, ion-sieves, rechargeable batteries, hydrogen storage media and microelectronics. To open up new applications of manganese oxides, novel morphologies or nanostructures are required to be developed. Via sol?gel and anodic electrodeposition methods, M (Co, Fe) doped manganese oxides were prepared. On the other hand, nanostructured (nanoparticles, nanorods and hollow nanotubes) manganese oxides were synthesized via a process including a chemical reaction with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) templates followed by heat treatment. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), cyclic voltammetry (CV) and impedance spectroscopy (EIS) were used for characterization of the prepared materials. The influence of chemical reaction conditions, heat treatment and template present on the morphology, structure, chemical and electrochemical properties of the prepared materials were investigated. Chronopotentiometry (CP) and CV results show high specific capacitance of 186.2 to 298.4 F g?1 and the charge/discharge stability of the prepared materials and the ideal pseudocapacitive behaviors were observed. These results give an opening and promising application of these materials in advanced energy storage applications.

Fabrication of Focus-Variable Fluidic Microlens Using Single Casting

An elastomeric microfluidic lens of variable focal length was fabricated by single casting from a microfabricated mold. The lens is a poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) microfluidic chamber covered with a thin membrane. By introducing fluid inside, the pressure varied in the microfluidic chamber, which produced a shift in the microlens focal plane resulting in a change in the back focal length of the lens. Hot pressing was used to fabricate the microfluidic chamber and membrane in a single body. The fabrication processes are simple, avoid handling difficulties of the thin membrane, and provide uniform thickness of the membrane, which essentially affect lens performance. The optical properties of the lens such as lens shape, back focal length, and numerical aperture were calculated and measured at various lens geometries and applied pressures. The back focal length of the lens changed approximately from 30 to 5 mm. The relationships of the optical properties, namely, back focal length and numerical aperture, with applied pressure were studied and verified using optical image tests. The variable focal length of the microfluidic lens is critical to increase the efficiency of light detection in optical or biophotonic applications.

The Electrowetting and Corrosion Characterizations of Anodized As-Prepared Titanium Dioxide Nanotube

Uniform titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanotube arrays were prepared via the anodizing of titanium electrodes in hydrofluoric acid containing glycerol. The relationship between the electrochemical fabrication process and nanotube formation was studied. The uniformity and diameter of the titanium dioxide nanotube can be controlled by the anodizing voltage and hydrofluoric acid and glycerol concentration. The wettability can be tuned by coating the titanium electrode with the synthesized titanium dioxide nanotube as demonstrated by the contact angle measurement. The hydrophilic characteristic of the anodized electrode surface decreases when the diameter of the titanium dioxide nanotube decreases. To evaluate the corrosion characteristic of the anodized as-prepared electrode, the electrochemical measurement (potentiostatic) was studied in a physiological saline solution. The results show high corrosion resistance of the anodized electrode. The successful preparation of these titanium dioxide nanotube electrodes offers high corrosion resistance and wetting controllability for bio-microfluidic device applications.

Chemiluminescence determination of moxifloxacin in pharmaceutical and biological samples based on its enhancing effect of the luminol–ferricyanide system using a microfluidic chip

A sensitive determination of a synthetic fluoroquinolone antibacterial agent, moxifloxacin (MOX), by an enhanced chemiluminescence (CL) method using a microfluidic chip is described. The microfluidic chip was fabricated by a soft-lithographic procedure using polydimethyl siloxane (PDMS). The fabricated PDMS microfluidic chip had three-inlet microchannels for introducing the sample, chemiluminescent reagent and oxidant, and a 500 µm wide, 250 µm deep and 82 mm long microchannel. An enhanced CL system, luminol-ferricyanide, was adopted to analyze the MOX concentration in a sample solution. CL light was emitted continuously after mixing luminol and ferricyanide in the presence of MOX on the PDMS microfluidic chip. The amount of MOX in the luminol-ferricyanide system influenced the intensity of the CL light. The linear range of MOX concentration was 0.14-55.0 ng/mL with a correlation coefficient of 0.9992. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) were 0.06 and 0.2 ng/mL respectively. The presented method afforded good reproducibility, with a relative standard deviation (RSD) of 1.05% for 10 ng/mL of MOX, and has been successfully applied for the determination of MOX in pharmaceutical and biological samples.

STUDY ON THE PREPARATION OF MANGANESE DIOXIDE VIA CATHODIC ELECTROLYSIS

A novel synthesis method was developed to prepare manganese dioxide via cathodic electrolysis in potassium permanganate solution. The morphology and the composition of the synthesized products were analyzed by scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and X-ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRD). The electrolyzed products include two kinds of materials: amorphous and crystalline manganese dioxide. The manganese dioxides were formed by cathodic reduction via two reaction mechanisms: direct and indirect electrochemical reactions. The electrolysis current performance strongly depends on the electrolyte solution temperature, applied voltage and not clearly depends on electrolyte solution concentration. With high current performance and uniformity products, the cathodic reduction of potassium permanganate is promising method for manganese dioxide fabrication.

P1.4.13 Determination of L-Ascorbic Acid by a Chemiluminescence Method using a Metal-MWCNT Immobilized Microfluidic Chip

The determination of L-ascorbic acid (AA) by a high throughput chemiluminescence (CL) method using a metal ion attached multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) immobilized microfluidic chip has been developed. The method is based on enhancing CL intensity of the luminol-hydrogen peroxide system with the immobilized metal-MWCNTs in the microfluidic chip and on the quenching of CL intensity with addition of AA. The effects of pH, concentrations of luminol, hydrogen peroxide and metal ions on the CL intensity were investigated and optimized. The calibration curve for AA was linear over the range of 1.6×10 -8 M to 6.4×10 -7 M, the correction coefficient was 0.98913 and the detection limit was 1.11×10 -9 M.