The division of aqueous samples into microdroplet arrays has many applications in biochemical and medical analysis. Inspired by biological features, we propose a method to produce picoliter droplet arrays for single-cell analysis based on physical structure and interface. A 0.9 pL droplet array with an RSD (relative standard deviation) less than 6.3% and a density of 49,000 droplets/cm² was successfully generated on a PDMS chip (polydimethylsiloxane) from a micromachined glass mold. The droplet generation principle of the wetting behavior in the microholes with splayed sidewalls on the PDMS chip by liquid smearing was exploited. The feasibility of the picoliter droplets for bacterial single-cell analysis was verified by the separation of mixed bacteria into single droplets and isolated in situ bacteria propagation.

将水样分成微滴阵列在生物化学和医学分析中有许多应用。受生物学特征的启发，我们提出了一种基于物理结构和界面的单细胞分析产生皮升液滴阵列的方法。0.9 pL 液滴阵列，RSD（相对标准偏差）小于 6.3%，密度为 49,000 个液滴/cm ²由微加工玻璃模具在 PDMS 芯片（聚二甲基硅氧烷）上成功生成。利用液体涂抹在PDMS芯片上具有张开侧壁的微孔中的润湿行为的液滴生成原理。通过将混合细菌分离成单个液滴并分离原位细菌繁殖，验证了皮升液滴用于细菌单细胞分析的可行性。