Executive Summary : | The demand for safe and efficient intracellular delivery methods is increasing in the biomedical field, with nanomaterials sensitized photoporation being an effective solution. However, conventional methods for synthesizing nanomaterials often result in uneven delivery due to their non-uniform size, morphology, and poor reproducibility. This project proposes a single microfluidic device for fabricating various shapes of gold nanostructures (sphere, cube, rod, and bone shapes) by tuning the flow rate alone. The polydimethylsiloxane-based microfluidic device will be fabricated using soft lithography procedures and automated synthesis by observing fluid flow through a microscope. By changing the flow rate, residence time can be varied, resulting in different shapes. The hypothesis is that at higher flow rates, residence time is short, leading to small spheres. As flow rate decreases, anisotropic growth starts, resulting in cubes and nanorods. The higher surface area to volume ratio of microchannels allows faster reactions and maintains constant temperature. The volume of chemical reagents required is smaller than conventional methods, reducing overall synthesis costs. Additionally, homogenous mixing within microchannels produces particles in a highly monodispersed manner, ensuring uniform plasmonic response. The microfluidic synthesized gold nanostructures can achieve uniform intracellular delivery. The study will also investigate the effect of shape and size on delivery efficiency and cell viability, evaluating delivery in various mammalian cells and developing therapeutic molecules like siRNA, plasmid, and enzymes. |