I will describe recent work on high-throughput viscosity measurements using a combination of microrheology and microfluidics. A series of microrheology samples is generated as droplets in an immiscible spacer fluid using a microfluidic T-junction. The compositions of the sample droplets are continuously varied over a wide range. Viscosity measurements are made in each droplet using multiple particle tracking microrheology. I will review the key design and operating parameters, including the droplet size, flow rates, rapid fabrication methods and passive microrheology techniques. Validation experiments are performed by measuring the solution viscosity of glycerine and the biopolymer heparin as a function of concentration. Overall, the combination of microrheology with microfluidics maximizes the number of viscosity measurements while simultaneously minimizing the sample preparation time and amount of material, and should be particularly suited to the characterization of protein solution viscosity for therapeutic agents.

High-throughput viscosity measurements using microrheology and microfluidics

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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