High-Speed and Large-Displacement Hydrogel Valve Enabled by a Partially Fixed Fabrication Process

In this study, we report high-speed on-chip microgel valves with large displacement, which are suitable for single-cell manipulations. The large displacement and rapid response of the proposed valves are achieved by partially fixing the microgel valves to the substrate, whereas conventional microgel valves are fully fixed to the bottom substrate. By employing this partial fixation, we enhanced the volume expansion ratio from 1.7 to 5.0, leading to a faster response. Moreover, the valves exhibit displacements of several tens of micrometers, making them well suited for single-cell manipulations. These proposed microgel valves are expected to contribute to highthroughput single-cell analysis on a microfluidic chip.