We investigate silica aerogel for biological and catalytic applications in µfluidics. Our main goal is to overcome the intrinsic shrinkage during the realization of this material directly in µfluidic channels. Here we present our strategy for thesynthesis and integration of silica aerogels as well as reinforced aerogels with polyethylene glycol and carbon nanotubes. We also present early results of aerogels in a microfluidic micromixer and as a catalyst support for catalytic reactions in a chip. 

Ana Luiza Silveira Fiates received her diploma in materials engineering from Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina- Brazil in 2020.  Since 2020 she has been working at the Institute for Microsensors, -actuators and -systems (IMSAS) at the University of Bremen as a research associate and PhD candidate. Her main research field is porous materials, in special silica aerogels integration and characterization in µfluidics for biological and catalytic applications. She also worked with metamaterials for acoustic sensors, and two photon polymerized porous structures in chips.