Microfluidic sorting-based droplet printing

Droplet printing is a technology that can precisely deposit materials on the substrate and has been widely used in the fabrication of micro-nano structures and electronics, biomanufacturing, and biomedicine. However, current methods to print droplets often directly deposit them on the substrate without sorting, and thus the contents in them cannot be controlled. We have developed the microfluidic sorting-based droplet printing technology in the last few years. We use microfluidic chip as the printhead and a novel microfluidic dielectrophoretic sorter to rapidly sort and print droplets with contents of interest to with ~10-micron resolution at hundreds of hertz. Our device can print single cells into any desired pattern with a complexity and control that has never been demonstrated. Beyond on single cells, based on the sorting principle, we have developed a series of droplet-based printing techniques with microfluidics, which enable printing of droplets with multiple phases and emulsions. Moreover, we have invented a microfluidic sorting-based printing technology that is capable of sorting and printing of droplets on multiple paths.

Pengfei Zhang is a Professor from School of Mechanical Engineering and Automation, Beihang University. He received B.S. and Ph.D. degree from the Beihang University in 2012 and 2017, respectively. He did his postdoctoral training at UCSF from 2017 to 2022. His current research is mainly focused on microfluidics, single-cell printing, and intelligent (bio)printing technology, aiming to address key scientific and technological questions in the fields of precision biomanufacturing and precision in situ manufacturing. He has published papers in high-impact journals including Nature, Advanced Materials, Trends in Biotechnology, and Advanced Functional Materials.