from the conferences organized by TANGER Ltd.
Acoustic forces enable contactless and selective manipulation of particles within microchannels, allowing precise control over their distribution and flow dynamics. This work presents the development of a glass microfluidic chip with a piezoelectric element, designed for the continuous handling of functionalized polystyrene microparticles using acoustofluidic principles. The core innovation lies in the design and implementation of a system that facilitates controlled mixing of the sample with these microparticles, followed by their spatial concentration in a dedicated detection zone. As part of the system development, substantial effort was devoted to optimizing the synthesis and surface functionalization of polystyrene microparticles (PS) with silver nanostructures (PS@Ag), intended for future use as SERS-active carriers. Although surfaceenhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) detection is not yet implemented, this study establishes the groundwork by demonstrating the feasibility of continuous particle focusing and transport within the microfluidic platform. The presented device represents a crucial step toward the realization of an automated, flow-through analytical system, with the potential for future integration with separation techniques and real-time, SERSbased chemical analysis.
Keywords: Acoustofluidics, manipulation, nanoparticles, Raman spectroscopy, substrate© This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.