UNSW chemists printed the university’s name using a novel technique they developed which involves fabricating a a pattern of ionic liquid droplets onto a gold-coated chip. Credit: UNSW UNSW Australia chemists have invented a new type of tiny lab-on-a-chip device that could have a diverse range of applications, including to detect toxic gases, fabricate integrated circuits and screen biological molecules. The novel technique developed by the UNSW team involves printing a pattern of miniscule droplets of a special solvent onto a gold-coated or glass surface. “We use a class of ‘green’ solvents called ionic liquids, which are salts that are liquid at room temperature. They are non-volatile, so this overcomes one of the main problems in making useful miniaturised devices – rapid evaporation of the solvents on the chip,” says Dr Chuan Zhao, senior author of the study. “The versatility of our chips means they could have a wide range of prospective functions, such as for use in fast and accurate hand-held sensors for environmental monitoring, medical diagnosis and process control in manufacturing.” Read more at: Phys.org
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