The Daily Bulletin Archive

Hanbin Mao, associate professor of chemistry at Kent State University, will present his research talk "Lab-in-a-Trap Microanalysis" on Thursday, April 3, at 12:30 p.m. in Science Building 272. Before his talk, he will meet with Buffalo State students in Science and Math Complex 201 from 11:00 to 11:45 a.m. The abstract of his talk appears below.

This seminar series is sponsored by the Auxiliary Services Grant Allocation Committee, the Vice President for Student Affairs Office, and the Faculty-Student Association.

Abstract
By placing optical tweezers on a microfluidic chip, we developed a new microanalysis, Lab-in-a-Trap. In this method, objects with femtoliter volume are trapped by laser foci. Chemical and biochemical reactions are carried out inside this femtoreactor. Compared with regular lab-on-a-chip approaches, this method provides even smaller volume, which facilitates mixing of different components. Three examples will be discussed in this presentation. First, we investigated phase transitions of thermoresponsive macromolecules, PNIPAM. We also studied the physiologically relevant fusion process between two lipid droplets. Finally, we introduced a bead-on-a-tip temperature-control module to facilitate the investigation of kinetic and thermodynamic events in small volumes.

Note: This presentation, originally scheduled for March 13, was postponed because of possible inclement weather.