Nature Communications (Oct 2016)

Spontaneous assembly of chemically encoded two-dimensional coacervate droplet arrays by acoustic wave patterning

  • Liangfei Tian,
  • Nicolas Martin,
  • Philip G. Bassindale,
  • Avinash J. Patil,
  • Mei Li,
  • Adrian Barnes,
  • Bruce W. Drinkwater,
  • Stephen Mann

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms13068
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 7, no. 1
pp. 1 – 10

Abstract

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Isolated droplets can be used as micro-reactors, yet it is challenging to operate them functionally in solution and observe chemical exchanges between droplets. Here, Tian et al. use an acoustic trap to assemble water-based micro-droplets into periodic arrays, spontaneously separated from solution media.