@article{Chowdhury_Zhang_Amini_Dey_Singh_Faghani_Schmueck‑Henneresse_Haag_2021, title={Functional Surfactants for Molecular Fishing, Capsule Creation, and Single-Cell Gene Expression}, volume={13}, url={https://www.nmlett.org/index.php/nml/article/view/913}, DOI={10.1007/s40820-021-00663-x}, abstractNote={<p>Creating a single surfactant that is open to manipulation, while maintaining its surface activity, robustness, and compatibility, to expand the landscape of surfactant-dependent assays is extremely challenging. We report an oxidation-responsive precursor with thioethers and multiple 1,2-diols for creating a variety of functional surfactants from one parent surfactant. Using these multifunctional surfactants, we stabilize microfluidics-generated aqueous droplets. The droplets encapsulate different components and immerse in a bioinert oil with distinct interfaces where an azide-bearing surfactant allow fishing of biomolecules from the droplets, aldehyde-bearing surfactant allow fabrication of microcapsules, and hydroxyl-bearing surfactants, with/without oxidized thioethers, allow monitoring of single-cell gene expression. Creating multifunctional surfactants poses opportunities for broad applications, including adsorption, bioanalytics, catalysis, formulations, coatings, and programmable subset of emulsions.</p> <p>Highlights:</p> <p>1 We have demonstrated how to create a parent surfactant that is open to manipulation, while maintaining its surface activity, robustness, and compatibility, to expand the landscape of surfactant-dependent microfluidic-droplet-based assays.<br>2 To create a library of functional surfactants from the parent surfactant, an oxidation-responsive small building block with thioethers and multiple 1,2-diols was used as a head group, while a non-polar perfluoropolyether chain was used as a tail.</p>}, journal={Nano-Micro Letters}, author={Chowdhury, Mohammad Suman and Zhang, Xingcai and Amini, Leila and Dey, Pradip and Singh, Abhishek Kumar and Faghani, Abbas and Schmueck‑Henneresse, Michael and Haag, Rainer}, year={2021}, month={Jun.}, pages={147} }