Functional Surfactants for Molecular Fishing, Capsule Creation, and Single-Cell Gene Expression

Creating a single surfactant that is open to manipulation, while maintaining its surface activity, robustness, and compatibility, to expand the landscape of surfactant-dependent assays is extremely challenging. We report an oxidation-responsive precursor with thioethers and multiple 1,2-diols for creating a variety of functional surfactants from one parent surfactant. Using these multifunctional surfactants, we stabilize microfluidics-generated aqueous droplets. The droplets encapsulate different components and immerse in a bioinert oil with distinct interfaces where an azide-bearing surfactant allow fishing of biomolecules from the droplets, aldehyde-bearing surfactant allow fabrication of microcapsules, and hydroxyl-bearing surfactants, with/without oxidized thioethers, allow monitoring of single-cell gene expression. Creating multifunctional surfactants poses opportunities for broad applications, including adsorption, bioanalytics, catalysis, formulations, coatings, and programmable subset of emulsions.

Automated summary

This study introduces an oxidation-responsive precursor for creating multifunctional surfactants, which can stabilize microfluidics-generated aqueous droplets, encapsulate different components, enable extraction of biomolecules, fabrication of microcapsules, and monitoring of single-cell gene expression. The development of multifunctional surfactants presents opportunities for a wide range of applications in adsorption, bioanalytics, catalysis, formulations, coatings, and programmable emulsions.