Study on the Technology of Monodisperse Droplets by a High-Throughput and Instant-Mixing Droplet Microfluidic System.

Rui Xu,Xingyu Zhao,Bing Liu,Changsheng Deng,Lei Nie,Shijiao Zhao,Jingtao Ma,Shaochang Hao,Jianjun Li

doi:10.3390/ma14051263

Abstract

In this study, we report a novel high-throughput and instant-mixing droplet microfluidic system that can prepare uniformly mixed monodisperse droplets at a flow rate of mL/min designed for rapid mixing between multiple solutions and the preparation of micro-/nanoparticles. The system is composed of a magneton micromixer and a T-junction microfluidic device. The magneton micromixer rapidly mixes multiple solutions uniformly through the rotation of the magneton, and the mixed solution is sheared into monodisperse droplets by the silicone oil in the T-junction microfluidic device. The optimal conditions of the preparation of monodisperse droplets for the system have been found and factors affecting droplet size are analyzed for correlation; for example, the structure of the T-junction microfluidic device, the rotation speed of the magneton, etc. At the same time, through the uniformity of the color of the mixed solution, the mixing performance of the system is quantitatively evaluated. Compared with mainstream micromixers on the market, the system has the best mixing performance. Finally, we used the system to simulate the internal gelation broth preparation of zirconium broth and uranium broth. The results show that the system is expected to realize the preparation of ceramic microspheres at room temperature without cooling by the internal gelation process.

Highlights

A novel high-throughput and instant-mixing droplet microfluidic system is designed for solution mixing and preparation of micro-/nanoparticles
The results show that the best conditions for the detail in Figure microfluidic system (DMS) to prepare uniform mixing and monodisperse droplets with good sphericity are in the coaxial T-junction microfluidic device, where the magneton speed is 600 r/min, and the content of surfactant is 2% v/v, the viscosity of continuous phase is 83.6 mPa·s, the flow rate of continuous phase and dispersed phase is 2 mL/min and 0.5 mL/min, respectively, and the flow ratio of continuous phase to dispersed phase is 4:1
The viscosity and flow rate of continuous phase have a major impact on monodisperse droplets of different sizes

Summary

Introduction

A micromixer has the advantages of fast and uniform mixing, no contamination of the reagents and the reduction of reagent consumption [1,2], better heat and mass conduction, and can effectively realize chemical reactions sensitive to air and humidity [3]. The safer synthesis of dangerous compounds [4]. These advantages have attracted strong interest from researchers, leading to the widespread study of micromixers in DNA hybridization [5], cell activation [6,7], enzyme reactions [8], protein folding [9], water quality monitoring [10], flow chemistry [11] and the synthesis of micro-/nanoparticles, etc. These advantages have attracted strong interest from researchers, leading to the widespread study of micromixers in DNA hybridization [5], cell activation [6,7], enzyme reactions [8], protein folding [9], water quality monitoring [10], flow chemistry [11] and the synthesis of micro-/nanoparticles, etc. [12,13,14,15]

Methods

Discussion

Conclusion