Influence on droplet formation in the presence of nanoparticles in a microfluidic T-junction

Abstract

The droplet formation in the presence of nanoparticles was studied in a T-shaped microfluidic device numerically. Nanoparticles in continuous phase did not influence droplet formation dynamics obviously. Contrarily, the presence of nanoparticles in dispersed phase will influence evidently droplet formation dynamics, the possible reason is that the accumulation of nanoparticles at the liquid-liquid interface would cause the variation of interfacial tension and the anisotropy of nanoparticles? movement at interface. Discussions on microscopic mechanism of droplet formation in the presence of nanoparticles were carried out.