Abstract
Multiple Emulsions (MEs) contain a drop laden with many micro-droplets. A single-step microfluidic-based synthesis process of MEs is presented to provide a rapid and controlled generation of monodisperse MEs. The design relies on the interaction of three immiscible fluids with each other in subsequent droplet formation steps to generate monodisperse ME constructs. The design is within a microchannel consists of two compartments of cross-junction and T-junction. The high shear stress at the cross-junction creates a stagnation point that splits the first immiscible phase to four jet streams each of which are sprayed to micrometer droplets surrounded by the second phase. The resulted structure is then supported by the third phase at the T-junction to generate and transport MEs. The ME formation within microfluidics is numerically simulated and the effects of several key parameters on properties of MEs are investigated. The dimensionless modeling of ME formation enables to change only one parameter at the time and analyze the sensitivity of the system to each parameter. The results demonstrate the capability of highly controlled and high-throughput MEs formation in a one-step synthesis process. The consecutive MEs are monodisperse in size which open avenues for the generation of controlled MEs for different applications.
Highlights
Www.nature.com/scientificreports gelled MEs20; bioactive materials dispersed in glycerol with the components of glycerol and organogel matrix of sitosterol-oryzanol in sunflower oil gels to produce oleogel capsules[27]; graphene micro-aerogels embedded within soft Multiple Emulsions (MEs) for electrochemical sensing[28]; mix of oil, toluene, water and microparticles of poly benzyl methacrylate to produce porous polystyrene monoliths MEs29; short-chain fatty acid within dietary fibers MEs30; bacterial celluloses encapsulated within protein and polyglycerol polyricinoleate MEs31; and eucalyptus oil, ubiquinone and fine water interfacing with hydroxy methyl cellulose and tannic acid to produce soft microcapsules of MEs32
This study focuses on the two instabilities occurring in a hybrid microfluidic network and using them to form monodisperse MEs within microfluidics
The effect of dimensionless numbers of Weber number for the Droplet phase (WeD), QS-D, QC-S, and Capillary number of the Sheath phase (CaS) are qualitatively discussed based on the governing physics of MEs formation
Summary
Gelled MEs20; bioactive materials dispersed in glycerol with the components of glycerol and organogel matrix of sitosterol-oryzanol in sunflower oil gels to produce oleogel capsules[27]; graphene micro-aerogels embedded within soft MEs for electrochemical sensing[28]; mix of oil, toluene, water and microparticles of poly benzyl methacrylate to produce porous polystyrene monoliths MEs29; short-chain fatty acid within dietary fibers MEs30; bacterial celluloses encapsulated within protein and polyglycerol polyricinoleate MEs31; and eucalyptus oil, ubiquinone and fine water interfacing with hydroxy methyl cellulose and tannic acid to produce soft microcapsules of MEs32. Conventional blending and stirring techniques are the most dominant techniques used so far for producing MEs and have been extensively used with different materials, gas or liquid phases, and media conditions to enhance MEs stability[8,36,38,39,50] In these techniques, the shear stress was provided between two immiscible fluids to detach one of the phases and form small droplets[35,40,51]. We present a new microfluidic design with a new regime of droplet formation that uses fluid hydrodynamics in a single step process to harness monodisperse MEs configuration This system can combine the advantages of producing emulsions shown in Fig. 1b,c to produce monodisperse MEs within microfluidics (Fig. 1d). Several parameters, including three dimensionless numbers of Weber number, Reynolds number and Capillary number as well as contact angle and droplet size distribution are considered to produce rapid and reliable monodisperse MEs in a high-throughput microfluidic system
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