Pico FillSystems Outlicensing Electrospray Deposition onto Small Targets





- Slides: 5

Pico. Fill-Systems Outlicensing Electrospray Deposition onto Small Targets Spraying requirements: Ø Low – high conductive surfaces: silicon nitride, metal coated plastics (10 nm thick metal layer) Ø Liquid surface tension < 0. 05 N/m Ø Capillary material: any low – high conductive material Dot 0. 4 millimeter Target Businesses: q Micro. Array Applications: Spraying of enzymes, metabolites, co-factors, yeast cells, antibodies q Dotting of Microliter & Nanoliter Fractions onto MALDI targets q Coating Industry: spraying of liquids containing metal particles, plastics, etching or curing agents, etc. 1

Spraying Set-Up: assembled standard devices Syringe-capillary Harvard Pump High Precision Microscope, CCD-camera Computer controlled Motion controller: Sends x-y-z data to the x-y-z table Syringe-capillary Power Supply x-y-z stage Micro. Array Upon execution of the desired x-y-z data, a substrate is moved underneath a capillary at high precision while liquid is sprayed onto the substrate at controlled flow rates of picoliters–nanoliters per second. 2

Spraying Parameters Dot Size • Dot size is related to the distance between the capillary-tip and the substrate (spraying distance) • Dot size is related to the capillary outer diameter: the smaller the outer diameter, the smaller the cone size • Dot size is related to the flow rate: at low flow rates the liquid evaporates rapidly resulting in a solid dot instead of a donut like dot. • Typical dot sizes for a capillary-OD of 150 micron and flow rates of 100– 400 picoliter/second : 150– 400 microns at spraying distances of 250– 500 micron, respectively Micro. Array Applications • Flow rates: picoliters-nanoliters/second • Distance between capillary-tip and substrate (spraying distance): 200– 500 micron • Dot size microarray: 100– 400 micron at spraying distances of 200– 500 micron • Preferred capillary outer diameter: 50– 200 micron • Maximum speed of x-y-z table depends on actuators Dotting of fractions onto MALDI plate targets • Flow rates: 1 nanoliter/second – 0. 6 microliter/second • Dot sizes: 400– 1500 micron at spraying distances of 500– 2000 micron, respectively 3

Spraying of Arrays of Dots A. Piston pushes liquid through syringe while electric field is applied B. Slide is moved downward to lower the electric field: spraying stops 1– 2 k. V Spray of droplets Micro. Array or slide C. Slide is moved upward and spraying resumes 1 -2 k. V Spot Slide is moved downward and sideways: typical 200 – 1000 micron Second spot is sprayed onto slide 4

Parallel Spraying Spots: 0. 6 millimeter apart 5