University of California

Thomas G. Mason

Thomas G Mason

Michael M Fryd

Timothy J Deming

Jarrod A Hanson

Carlos Javier Hernandez

Kenny Mayoral

Sara M Graves

Kun Zhao

Xiaoming Zhu

Matthew Pagenkopp

Po-Yuan Wang

Dimitri Athan Bikos

Connie B Chang

An electrophoretic spectroscopic imaging device for real-time spatially-resolved spectroscopic imaging of reagents and reaction-products resulting from electrophoretic collisions of reagents includes an electrophoresis component; a pair of electrodes; an illumination source; a spectroscopic-imaging device; and a computing device. An electrophoretic gel includes a matrix of porous solid material; and an electrolyte solution disposed within pores of the matrix. A method of electrophoretically colliding reagents includes providing a matrix that is a porous solid material having continuously interconnected pore regions that are filled with an electrolyte solution; loading a first reagent; loading a second reagent; and applying an electric field to the matrix loaded with the first reagent and the second reagent.

Colliding and reacting molecules and colloids electrophoretically

A biliquid material includes an emulsion having a continuous liquid phase, a dispersed liquid phase, and a surface-stabilizing material, wherein: the dispersed liquid phase is immiscible with the continuous liquid phase; the dispersed liquid phase is in the form of a plurality of droplets in the continuous liquid phase; the surface-stabilizing material is soluble in at least one of the continuous liquid phase and the dispersed liquid phase and preferentially adsorbs at the surfaces of the plurality of droplets, wherein the surface-stabilizing material imparts a repulsive interaction between the plurality of droplets that inhibits coalescence of the plurality of droplets; and the biliquid material has a structurally-colored droplets structure, wherein the structurally-colored droplets structure yields one or more structural colors when illuminated with broad-spectrum light wherein the one or more structural colors arise from diffraction of the broad-spectrum light by the plurality of droplets.

Ultrastable nanoemulsions in disordered and ordered states

A method of producing preconfigured arrangements of mobile shape-designed particles. The method includes providing a composite structure comprising a substrate and a layer of particle material over a surface of the substrate; lithographically producing a plurality of shaped-designed particles from the layer of particle material such that the plurality of shaped-designed particles remain substantially in a layer proximate the substrate; and at least one of subsequent to or in conjunction with the lithographically producing, immersing the plurality of shaped-designed particles the substrate in a fluid material, at a preselected temperature. The fluid material comprises a depletion agent having particles having sizes and a volume fraction to provide depletion attraction between at least a portion of the shaped-designed particles and the substrate such that the shaped-designed particles remain substantially in the layer proximate the substrate.

Multi-scale pre-assembled phases of matter

A system and a method of producing sub-millimeter scale particles are provided herein. The method includes providing a substrate that has a layer of photosensitive material thereon; exposing a portion of the layer to a structured beam of light that has a cross-sectional shape, and a cross-sectional size. The cross-sectional size of the structured beam of light at the layer of photosensitive material is smaller than a sub-millimeter scale particle. The method also includes moving the substrate or the beam of light relative to each other to follow a path for making additional exposures or continuous exposure to result in a discrete exposed pattern in the layer that corresponds to the particle being produced, and exposing the layer to the light; and processing the layer to remove unexposed material around the discrete exposed pattern and to separate the discrete exposed pattern from the layer to provide the sub-millimeter scale particle.

Patterned multi-beam nanoshift lithography for on-the-fly, high throughput production of customizable shape-designed microparticles, nanoparticles, and continuous films

A device for measuring size distributions of particles and droplets includes a gel electrophoresis component that has a gel chamber that is suitable to receive a gel in which at least one of particles or droplets propagate in a liquid medium during operation; an illumination source arranged to illuminate said at least one of particles or droplets such that the at least one of particles or droplets absorbs, scatters or emits light; an imaging device configured to obtain image data from the absorbed, scattered, or emitted light from the at least one of particles or droplets while the at least one of particles or droplets propagate through the gel; and a computing device configured to receive and process the image data to provide information concerning a size distribution of the at least one of particles or droplets.

Particle size distribution measurements of particles and droplets using optical gel electrophoresis

The present invention is directed to emulsions with a plurality of droplets dispersed in a continuous liquid medium. These droplets can contain at least a first droplet liquid and a second droplet liquid and can have an ensemble-average maximal spatial dimension that is less than 1 micrometer. The invention includes preparation, uses and compositions containing emulsions. Solute materials can also be dissolved in the droplet liquids.

Multicomponent, internally structured nanoemulsions and methods of production

A method for producing particles includes providing a relief template having a surface relief pattern adapted to impart structure to a plurality of particles while they are under production; depositing a radiation-sensitive material on the relief template; exposing portions of the radiation-sensitive material on the relief template using a beam of spatially patterned radiation; removing portions of the radiation-sensitive material after the exposing to reveal at least portions of surfaces of the plurality of particles; and separating at least a portion of the plurality of particles from the relief template. At least a portion of a structure of each of the plurality of particles is defined by a combination of the surface relief pattern and the spatially patterned radiation.

Process for creating shape-designed particles in a fluid

A system for producing emulsions includes a liquid supply system, an emulsification system in liquid connection with the liquid supply system to receive a first liquid and a second liquid from the liquid supply system while in operation to be used to produce an emulsion therefrom, and a surfactant recovery system connected to the emulsification system to receive the emulsion when produced from the first and second liquids. The second liquid is immiscible with the first liquid, and the surfactant recovery system recovers at least a portion of surfactant from the emulsion when the emulsion is received from the emulsification system.

System and method for recycling surfactant in emulsion production

Producing composite structures includes dispersing a first plurality of objects, a second plurality of objects, and a third plurality of objects in a fluid, the third and second plurality of objects having an average maximum dimension that is smaller than the first plurality of objects The first plurality of objects comprise a first, a second, a third and a forth object, each having mating surface regions The first and second objects' mating surfaces are complimentary and the third and forth objects' mating surfaces are complementary The first and second object aggregate together in response to the dispersing of the second plurality of objects in the fluid due to a depletion attraction between the first and the second object The third and forth object aggregate together in response to dispersing the third plurality of objects in the fluid due to a depletion attraction between the third and the fourth object.

Massively parallel assembly of composite structures using depletion attraction

A method of producing an emulsion includes preparing a droplet solution comprising first and second molecular species, the droplet solution being in a fluid phase, wherein the first molecular species is soluble in the second molecular species; forming a plurality of droplets from the droplet solution in a bulk fluid to create a first emulsion, the plurality of droplets having a first ensemble average radius in the bulk fluid, wherein the first molecular species of the droplet solution is at least partially soluble in the bulk fluid and the droplet solution is at least partially immiscible in the bulk fluid; and allowing molecules of the first molecular species to migrate from the plurality of fluid droplets to the bulk fluid due to a higher concentration of the first molecular species in the droplet solution than the bulk fluid to result in the plurality of droplets having a second ensemble average radius that is smaller than the first ensemble average radius. An emulsion includes a bulk fluid and a plurality of droplets dispersed in the bulk fluid. The plurality of droplets have an ensemble average radius less than about 25 nm and greater than about 5 nm.

Process and system for reducing sizes of emulsion droplets and emulsions having reduced droplet sizes

A method of producing particles includes providing a substrate structure that comprises a solid substrate; forming a target structure on said substrate structure, said target structure comprising a radiation-reactive material; forming a spatially patterned beam of radiation using a patterned mask; exposing at least a portion of the target structure to the spatially patterned beam of radiation to which the radiation-reactive material reacts while leaving other portions of the target structure unexposed to the radiation; removing substantially all of one of the exposed or the unexposed patterned portions of the target structure to provide a plurality of non-contiguous structures that include at least a portion of the radiation-reactive material; and separating the plurality of non-contiguous structures comprising the radiation-reactive material from the substrate structure into a fluid material. Each non-contiguous structure of the radiation-reactive material provides at least a portion of a separate particle after the separation.

Customized lithographic particles

A method for producing particles includes providing a first patterned surface having a first surface relief pattern adapted to impart structure to a plurality of particles while they are under production; providing a second patterned surface having a second surface relief pattern adapted to impart structure to a plurality of particles while they are under production; depositing a particle material in contact with at least one of the first patterned surface and the second patterned surface; aligning the first surface relief pattern on the first patterned surface with respect to the second surface relief pattern on the second patterned surface; contacting at least a portion of the first patterned surface with at least a portion of the second patterned surface; solidifying at least a portion of the particle material to form a plurality of particles; and separating at least a portion of the plurality of particles from at least one of the first patterned surface and the second patterned surface. The at least a portion of a structure of each of the plurality of particles is imparted by a combination of the first surface relief pattern and the second surface relief pattern.

Mechanical process for producing particles in a fluid

A method of separating a mixture of discrete structures dispersed in a fluid material includes identifying a target structure and a non-target structure; providing a custom-shaped particle having at least a portion of a surface that is substantially shape-complementary to a portion of a surface of the target structure; introducing the custom-shaped particle into the fluid material; exciting reconfigurations of the custom-shaped particle with respect to the target structure and the non-target structure; binding the custom-shaped particle to the target structure through an attractive interaction to form an aggregate; and isolating the aggregate containing the target structure and the custom-shaped particle from the non-target structure. The custom-shaped particle preferentially binds with the target structure without binding with the non-target structure.

Process for sorting dispersed colloidal structures

An emulsion includes a substantially continuous liquid medium, and a plurality of droplet structures dispersed within the substantially continuous liquid medium. Each droplet structure of the plurality of droplet structures includes an outer droplet of a first liquid having an outer surface; an inner droplet of a second liquid having an inner surface contained within the outer surface of the outer droplet of the first liquid, the second liquid being immiscible in the first liquid, wherein the inner and outer droplets have a boundary surface region therebetween; an outer layer of block copolymers disposed on the outer surface of the outer droplet; and an inner layer of block copolymers disposed on the inner surface of the inner droplet. The block copolymers include a hydrophilic polymer block and a hydrophobic polymer block that act in combination to stabilize the droplet structure, and the first liquid is immiscible in the substantially continuous liquid medium.

Copolymer-stabilized emulsions

A method of assembling composite structures from objects in fluid includes providing a plurality of objects, each having a preselected size, shape, and spatial distribution of surface structural features characterizing a surface roughness; dispersing the objects into the fluid; and introducing a depletion agent. The depletion agent includes a plurality of particles having a size distribution preselected causing an attractive force arising from a depletion attraction between at least a first object and second object of the plurality in at least one relative position and orientation based on the preselected spatial distribution of surface structural features on the first and second objects, and the depletion attraction between the first and second objects forms at least one rigid bond or slippery bond at or proximate to respective surface portions based on the preselected spatial distribution of surface structural features on the first and second objects to form a two-object composite structure.

Growing community of inventors

Los Angeles, CA, United States of America

Thomas G Mason