TY - JOUR T1 - Monodisperse drops templated by 3D-structured microparticles JF - bioRxiv DO - 10.1101/2020.03.22.001065 SP - 2020.03.22.001065 AU - Chueh-Yu Wu AU - Bao Wang AU - Joseph de Rutte AU - Mengxing Ouyang AU - Alexis Joo AU - Matthew Jacobs AU - Kyung Ha AU - Andrea L. Bertozzi AU - Dino Di Carlo Y1 - 2020/01/01 UR - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/03/25/2020.03.22.001065.abstract N2 - The ability to create uniform sub-nanoliter compartments using microfluidic control has enabled new approaches for analysis of single cells and molecules. However, specialized instruments or expertise have been required, slowing the adoption of these cutting-edge applications. Here, we show that 3D-structured microparticles with sculpted surface chemistries template uniformly-sized aqueous drops when simply mixed with two immiscible fluid phases. In contrast to traditional emulsions, particle-templated drops of a controlled volume occupy a minimum in the interfacial energy of the system, such that a stable monodisperse state results with simple and reproducible formation conditions. We describe techniques to manufacture microscale drop-carrier particles and show that emulsions created with these particles prevent molecular exchange, concentrating reactions within the drops, laying a foundation for sensitive compartmentalized assays with minimal instrumentation. ER -