Microcalorimeters have been widely used for characterizing molecular interactions in physical, chemical and biological research. Here, we report on a droplet-based micromachined calorimeter for real-time energy balance monitoring. The microcalorimeter was fabricated by a single lithography process and wafer dicing using glass substrate with a diameter and a thickness of ≈ 100 mm and ≈ 100 µm, respectively. The sample with volume of ≈ 0.5 µL was placed on the microcalorimeter and covered with mineral oil to avoid evaporation. The microcalorimeter was operated in differential mode having the temperature and power resolution of ≈ 148 µK and ≈ 42 nW, respectively. With this system, we monitored the energy balance of H₂O₂ decomposition catalyzed by a few self-propelled Pt microrobots. Such a simple microcalorimeter has tremendous potential for chemical and biological research such as monitoring the energy balance of living cells or microorganisms and correlating the energy changes with their activities and status.

微量热量计已被广泛用于表征物理，化学和生物学研究中的分子相互作用。在这里，我们报告了基于液滴的微机量热仪，用于实时能量平衡监测。微量热量计是通过单次光刻工艺和使用玻璃基板切割而成的，玻璃基板的直径和厚度分别为≈100 mm和≈100 µm。将体积约为0.5 µL的样品放在微量量热仪上，并用矿物油覆盖以避免蒸发。微量热量计以差模运行，温度和功率分辨率分别为≈148 µK和≈42 nW。通过该系统，我们监控了H ₂ O ₂的能量平衡一些自行式Pt微型机器人催化分解。这种简单的量热仪在化学和生物学研究中具有巨大的潜力，例如监测活细胞或微生物的能量平衡以及将能量变化与其活动和状态相关联。