PhD Project by Daniel Maher
Project Title: Multimaterial microrobots for hyperlocalized sensing (MicroHeroeS)
Group: Polymer Microsystems
Supervisor: Rafael Taboryski
Project Description
Chemical sensing is an important requirement in many research and industrial applications, especially for monitoring cell cultures. To be able to detect chemicals in a microscale region, the sensor in question must be miniaturized. Hence, microrobots are a promising option to accomplish this task due to their small size. A well-established method to fabricate microrobots is with micro 3D printing, namely using two-photon polymerization (2PP) techniques. 2PP is a form of high-resolution printing that allows for the realization of detailed 3D freeform microstructures. Microrobots comprising a hard polymer scaffold and a soft responsive polymer that reversibly changes shape when subjected to different chemical concentrations could be utilized in a variety of applications that require localized sensing. Furthermore, microrobots can be manipulated in certain media using optical trapping, which allows for simple and precise transportation of a microrobot to different locations in a fluid, in turn allowing for localized sensing in a microfluidic chip.
Perspective
The main objectives of the PhD project are to fabricate a microrobot with a hard polymer scaffold and a soft responsive polymer using 2PP, and to apply the fabricated microrobots for sensing changes in pH or other analytes in liquid samples. Overall, the steps needed to complete these objectives would be to develop a consistent method for micro 3D printing hard and soft responsive polymers, establish a protocol to fabricate multi-material microrobots with a reliable release process, and ensure the microrobots can be successfully manipulated in fluids using optical trapping. The project will involve a research stay at Trinity College Dublin in Assist. Prof. Larisa Florea’s group to investigate printable soft responsive polymers.
This PhD project is part of the MicroHeroeS project funded by the DFF-Forskningsprojekt1 Inge Lehmann grant nr. 1134-00001B.
Group: Polymer Microsystems
Supervisor: Rafael Taboryski
Project Description
Chemical sensing is an important requirement in many research and industrial applications, especially for monitoring cell cultures. To be able to detect chemicals in a microscale region, the sensor in question must be miniaturized. Hence, microrobots are a promising option to accomplish this task due to their small size. A well-established method to fabricate microrobots is with micro 3D printing, namely using two-photon polymerization (2PP) techniques. 2PP is a form of high-resolution printing that allows for the realization of detailed 3D freeform microstructures. Microrobots comprising a hard polymer scaffold and a soft responsive polymer that reversibly changes shape when subjected to different chemical concentrations could be utilized in a variety of applications that require localized sensing. Furthermore, microrobots can be manipulated in certain media using optical trapping, which allows for simple and precise transportation of a microrobot to different locations in a fluid, in turn allowing for localized sensing in a microfluidic chip.
Perspective
The main objectives of the PhD project are to fabricate a microrobot with a hard polymer scaffold and a soft responsive polymer using 2PP, and to apply the fabricated microrobots for sensing changes in pH or other analytes in liquid samples. Overall, the steps needed to complete these objectives would be to develop a consistent method for micro 3D printing hard and soft responsive polymers, establish a protocol to fabricate multi-material microrobots with a reliable release process, and ensure the microrobots can be successfully manipulated in fluids using optical trapping. The project will involve a research stay at Trinity College Dublin in Assist. Prof. Larisa Florea’s group to investigate printable soft responsive polymers.
This PhD project is part of the MicroHeroeS project funded by the DFF-Forskningsprojekt1 Inge Lehmann grant nr. 1134-00001B.
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Daniel Maher PhD student
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Rafael Taboryski Professor
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Ada-Ioana Bunea Associate Professor