The number of microplastics in aquatic environments is increasing rapidly in recent years and making ocean microplastics one of the major environmental problems. In our research, we focus on the isolation of nature-found microplastics by collecting sand from Los Angeles beaches. Since the optical studies of nature-found microplastics are nontrivial, we generate a standard database by creating and studying different types of irregular-shaped lab-made microplastics using optical tweezer setup. The created database is used to characterize the optical properties of nature-found microplastics. We are planning to apply these results to investigate microplastic interactions with ocean microplankton at a cellular level.
The ability to fabricate your own microfluidic devices provides flexibility to alter the exact design of the device as the project develops. Here we present a concise fabrication process of reusable microscope-compatible microfluidic devices for biophotonic applications. The method requires commonly available components, such as a 3D printer or 3D pen, heat plate, sonicator, PDMS, and acetone. For high NA objective’s measurements, a cover glass can be inserted and replaced from the main microfluidic chamber. For our studies of the controlled bacterial biofilm formation, a laser beam is also delivered from the side of the microfluidic device with a fiber-coupled laser or from the bottom through an objective.
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