Systems and methods for mixing reactants
First Claim
1. A method of metering a volume of crystallizing agent for crystallization comprising:
- providing a chamber having a volume in an elastomeric block separated from a control recess by an elastomeric membrane;
supplying a pressure to the control recess such that the membrane is deflected into the chamber and the volume is reduced by a calibrated amount, thereby excluding from the chamber a calibrated volume of a crystallization sample.
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Accused Products
Abstract
High throughput screening of crystallization of a target material is accomplished by simultaneously introducing a solution of the target material into a plurality of chambers of a microfabricated fluidic device. The microfabricated fluidic device is then manipulated to vary the solution condition in the chambers, thereby simultaneously providing a large number of crystallization environments. Control over changed solution conditions may result from a variety of techniques, including but not limited to metering volumes of crystallizing agent into the chamber by volume exclusion, by entrapment of volumes of crystallizing agent determined by the dimensions of the microfabricated structure, or by cross-channel injection of sample and crystallizing agent into an array of junctions defined by intersecting orthogonal flow channels.
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Citations
32 Claims
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1. A method of metering a volume of crystallizing agent for crystallization comprising:
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providing a chamber having a volume in an elastomeric block separated from a control recess by an elastomeric membrane;
supplying a pressure to the control recess such that the membrane is deflected into the chamber and the volume is reduced by a calibrated amount, thereby excluding from the chamber a calibrated volume of a crystallization sample. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A system for crystallizing a target material comprising:
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an elastomeric block including a microfabricated chamber configured to contain a volume of a solution of the target material; and
a microfabricated flow channel in fluid communication with the chamber, the flow channel introducing a volume of a crystallizing agent into the chamber. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A system for crystallizing a target material comprising:
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an elastomeric block including a microfabricated chamber configured to contain a volume of a solution of the target material; and
a crystallizing agent reservoir in fluid communication with the microfabricated chamber through a dialysis membrane, the dialysis membrane configured to prevent flow of the target material into the crystallizing agent reservoir. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method for crystallizing a target material comprising:
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charging a chamber of a microfabricated elastomeric block with a volume of solution of the target material; and
introducing a volume of a crystallization agent into the chamber to change a solvent environment of the chamber. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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- 25. A method for crystallizing a target material comprising introducing a crystallizing agent to a target material solution in the presence of a surface having a morphology calculated to serve as a template for formation of a crystal of the target material.
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28. A method for crystallizing a target material by vapor diffusion comprising.
providing a target material solution within a microfabricated chamber; -
providing a recrystallizing agent in fluid communication with the microfabricated chamber;
providing an air pocket between the chamber and the recrystallization agent, such that the crystallizing agent diffuses in the vapor phase across the air pocket into the target material solution. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32)
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Specification