Biomimetic Meta-Structured Electro-Microfluidics

Flexible membranes (i.e., paper, cloth, and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)) have received extensive attention. The rapid development of flexible microfluidics and electronics and their integration calls for complex substrate structures to allow for multiple functions. Inspired by nature, meta-structured membranes (MSMs) as substrates for fabricating integrated microfluidics and electronics are presented. These flexible and freestanding MSMs are generated by the self-assembly of elastic plastic copolymer nanoparticle photonic crystals on micropatterned PDMS templates. The final MSMs constitute with integrated ordered micro- and nanostructures and exhibit spontaneous liquid transfer, fluorescence enhancement, and intimate skin contact. MSMs with designed patterns can be fabricated by assembling polymer nanoparticles on patterned molds; complicated and highly integrated electro-microfluidics are generated on one slice of MSMs by utilizing these patterns as microfluidic channels and electrocircuits. They can be used as chip-on-skin sensors for biochemical–physiological hybrid monitoring sensing of the human body and as organ chips for cell culture and metabolite analysis under drug treatment. Their excellent properties show their potential value in cross-scale sensing and have broad potential applications.