FLOW research published in PNAS

Our colleague Shahab Mirjalili and his collaborators have recently published their work in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS): A.S. Avaro, S. Mirjalili, A.D. Griffiths, & J.G. Santiago, Microfluidic networks using isotachophoresis, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 122 (45) e2511724122, doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2511724122  (2025).  "Microfluidic systems have revolutionized a great variety of chemical and biological processes and assays. Increases in complexity often demand the creation of microfluidic networks which are simple to fabricate, reconfigurable, and precisely controllable. Here, we introduce a type of microfluidic network based on an electrokinetic process called isotachophoresis (ITP). ITP networks can achieve purification, preconcentration, aliquoting, and mixing processes in simple-to-build, yet complex network geometries with no moving parts. We present a general theoretical framework and model for these networks, and we demonstrate the automatic one-to-32 aliquoting and 32-to-one merging of samples as example networks. This approach may be compatible with a wide range of biochemical techniques and offers a basis for low-cost, reconfigurable microfluidic devices."