Abstract
We describe the fabrication of PDMS (poly(dimethylsiloxane)) particles through the emulsion formation of two immiscible phases. Base-catalyzed hydrolysis and polymerization of DMDES (dimethyldiethoxysilane) was previously reported to produce PDMS particles. Spinning of PDMS prepolymer within water and subsequent filtration was also used to make PDMS particles for deformation study. Here, we generated strong hydrodynamic shear force to mix two phases compulsorily.PDMS was mixed with equal or larger volume of distilled water. These two immiscible liquid were mixed by two methods. Firstly, the mixture was votexed for several tens of minutes. Otherwise, the mixture was emulsified by use of luer-lock syringes connected through a needle. Water was removed after solidification of PDMS. The diamter of PDMS particles by the first method ranged from several hundred micrometers to several millimeters. The size of PDMS particles obtained by the second method was also heterogeneous. By the way, after simple sedimentation of the mixed particles from the second method, we found that PDMS particles with homogeneous diameters were obtained. PDMS particles with diameter about 1 μm or less could be easily produced. Several parameters such as the ratio of components, mixing force, addition of PDMS diluent affected the diameter and size distribution.
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