Miniature reaction chamber

Numerous applications of organic zeolites have been proposed. In the future they could serve as catalytic sites and miniature reaction chambers as well as storage compartments and stationary chromatographic phases to be used for the... 

Most important of all, however, is the possibility of running the Merrifield procedure on any number of resin beads (or other support systems) simultaneously in a number of reaction chambers. An example of this alternative is the so-called split and mix system of combinatorial chemistry. The first step in this kind of system is to prepare some number of monomer-support units (three in the example shown below), in which the monomer present differs from chamber to chamber. In the diagram below, the units are represented as -X, -Y, and -Z. These three units are washed and then mixed with each other in a single container. The mixture is then divided and placed into three separate containers. One of the most common containers used contains a number of wells in a plastic or glass dish that are miniature versions of the common petri dish used in biology experiments. 

Building up expertise in this field, EMBL with its data library is well positioned to play an important European role in estabfishing a reference DNA array and SAGE database. In the future, the micro-array technology will be developed also for proteins, applying miniaturization, nanotechnology, micro-fabricated devices and reaction chambers. 

Three-dimensional (3D) structuring of materials allows miniaturization of photonic devices, micro-(nano-)electromechanical systems (MEMS and NEMS), micro-total analysis systems (yu,-TAS), and other systems functioning on the micro- and nanoscale. Miniature photonic structures enable practical implementation of near-held manipulation, plasmonics, and photonic band-gap (PEG) materials, also known as photonic crystals (PhC) [1,2]. In micromechanics, fast response times are possible due to the small dimensions of moving parts. Femtoliter-level sensitivity of /x-TAS devices has been achieved due to minute volumes and cross-sections of channels and reaction chambers, in combination with high resolution and sensitivity of optical con-focal microscopy. Progress in all these areas relies on the 3D structuring of bulk and thin-fllm dielectrics, metals, and organic photosensitive materials. 

Micro-reaction chambers for the thermal cycling of DNA amphfication by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in silicon by bulk machining using anisotropic wet etching have been fabricated by Moore and co-workers [40]. The rapid temperature cycling and the small size of the chambers may be combined with an appropriate transducer in a miniaturized analytical system. 

Northrup, M.A., B. Benett, D. Hadley, P. Landre, S. Lehew, J. Richards, and P. Stratton. A miniature analytical instrument for nucleic acids based on micromachined silicon reaction chambers. Anal Chem. 1998, 70(5), 918-922... 

Fig. 112. The microfabricated inductively coupled plasma-on-a-chip system is shown from the side and the top. The system includes a generator that is microfabricated on a glass wafer and a miniature aluminum reaction chamber. Reproduced with permission from Ref [492].)...

A unique chemiluminescence photon-counting system, designed specifically for measurement of stress-enhanced polymer reactions, was used for the studies described here. This system Includes a miniature tensile stress device, a controlled environment chamber and a luminescence detection system and associated optics Integrated Into a single unit. 

Moreover, there is a current need of miniaturized propulsion system for widening the capabilities of low cost micro-satellites. Recently, the development of a turbo-pump fed miniature rocket engine has been proposed as a new propulsion system for micro-satellites (10 to 100 kg) [6] the bipropellant tlmister uses 70 wt.-% H2O2 as oxidizer and ethanol as fuel. The engine displays four sub-components (i) two propellant micro-pumps, (ii) a HP decomposition chamber, (iii) a turbine coupled to an electric power generator and driven by the hot gas released from HP decomposition, and (iv) a thruster for the combustion reaction. 

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