On-Site Formation of Emulsions by Controlled Air Plugs

Air plugs are usually undesirable in microfluidic systems because of their detrimental effect on the system's stability and integrity. By controlling the wetting properties as well as the topographical geometry of the microchannel, it is reported herein that air plugs can be generated in pre‐de...

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Published inSmall (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany) Vol. 10; no. 4; pp. 758 - 765
Main Authors Huang, Xiaowen, Hui, Wenli, Hao, Chonglei, Yue, Wanqing, Yang, Mengsu, Cui, Yali, Wang, Zuankai
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Germany Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.02.2014
Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
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Summary:Air plugs are usually undesirable in microfluidic systems because of their detrimental effect on the system's stability and integrity. By controlling the wetting properties as well as the topographical geometry of the microchannel, it is reported herein that air plugs can be generated in pre‐defined locations to function as a unique valve, allowing for the on‐site formation of various emulsions including single‐component droplets, composite droplets with droplet‐to‐droplet concentration gradient, blood droplets, paired droplets, as well as bubble arrays without the need for precious flow control, a difficult task with conventional droplet microfluidics. Moreover, the self‐generated air valve can be readily deactivated (turned off) by the introduction of an oil phase, allowing for the on‐demand release of as‐formed droplets for downstream applications. It is proposed that the simple, yet versatile nature of this technique can act as an important method for droplet microfluidics and, in particular, is ideal for the development of affordable lab‐on‐a‐chip systems without suffering from scalability and manufacturing challenges that typically confound the conventional droplet microfluidics. Various emulsions including single‐component droplets, composite droplets with droplet‐to‐droplet concentration gradient, blood droplets, paired droplets, as well as bubble arrays are formed in an on‐site manner without the need for precious flow control. This method takes advantage of the valve nature of air plugs, which are usually undesirable in the microfluidic system because of their detrimental effect on the system's stability and integrity
Bibliography:istex:B1C7185589A64B819FB8EB397BA881D55982A90F
Natural Science Foundation of China General Program - No. 51276152
National Basic Research Program of China - No. 2012CB933302
ark:/67375/WNG-GNJTDS4V-J
Shenzhen Key Laboratory
ArticleID:SMLL201202659
Early Career Scheme - No. 9041809
These authors contributed equally to this work.
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ISSN:1613-6810
1613-6829
DOI:10.1002/smll.201202659