Issue 13, 2024

Fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) for purifying colloidal clusters

Abstract

Colloidal particles are considered to be essential building blocks for creating innovative self-assembled and active materials, for which complexity beyond that of compositionally uniform particles is key. However, synthesizing complex, multi-material colloids remains a challenge, often resulting in heterogeneous populations that require post-synthesis purification. Leveraging advances brought forward in the purification of biological samples, here we apply fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) to sort colloidal clusters synthesized through capillary assembly. Our results demonstrate the effectiveness of FACS in sorting clusters based on size, shape, and composition. Notably, we achieve a sorting purity of up to 97% for clusters composed of up to 9 particles, albeit observing a decline in purity with increasing cluster size. Additionally, dimers of different colloids can be purified to over 97%, while linear and triangular trimers can be separated with up to 88% purity. This work underscores the potential of FACS as a promising and little-used tool in colloidal science to support the development of increasingly more intricate particle-based building blocks.

Graphical abstract: Fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) for purifying colloidal clusters

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Communication
Submitted
25 Jan 2024
Accepted
01 Mar 2024
First published
01 Mar 2024
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Soft Matter, 2024,20, 2881-2886

Fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) for purifying colloidal clusters

S. van Kesteren, P. Diethelm and L. Isa, Soft Matter, 2024, 20, 2881 DOI: 10.1039/D4SM00122B

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