Fission and fusion of droplets in a 3-D crossing microstructure

Abstract

We demonstrate a 3-D crossing microstructure that has simple and versatile features for the fission and fusion of droplets. For their fission, the size of daughter droplets is readily controllable solely on modulating the ratio of flow rates at the inlets. We observed two distinct scenarios of droplet fission and propose dripping-like and squeezing-like mechanisms to explain such anomalous phenomena. Depending on the width of the outlet channel, the microstructure exhibits chronologically differentiated dynamics of droplet fusion and fission, leading to diverse droplet mixing. With this microstructure, droplets of diverse size and concentration can be accordingly produced from two individual droplets of distinct constituents. As the 3-D structure allows for both droplet dispersion and mixing, it is beneficially applicable for biochemical and biomedical applications such as drug dosing and drug delivery. Diverse droplet manipulations are realized with this 3-D crossing microstructure, shedding new light on droplet-based microfluidic systems.