Droplet formation by squeezing in a microfluidic cross-junction

Van Loo, Stéphanie; Stoukatch, Serguei; Kraft, Michael; Gilet, Tristan

doi:10.1007/s10404-016-1807-1

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Droplet formation by squeezing in a microfluidic cross-junction

Van Loo, Stéphanie; Stoukatch, Serguei; Kraft, Michael et al.

2016 • In Microfluidics and Nanofluidics, 20 (10), p. 1-12

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https://hdl.handle.net/2268/202526

DOI
10.1007/s10404-016-1807-1

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Keywords :

Droplet Microfluidics; Microfluidics; Droplet formation; Satellite Droplet; Surfactant; Elasticity

Abstract :

[en] In microfluidics, flow focusing is widely used to produce water-in-oil droplets in microchannels at high frequency. We here report an experimental study of droplet formation in a microfluidic cross-junction with a minimum number of geometrical parameters. We mostly focus on the squeezing regime, which is composed of two distinct steps : filling and pinching. The duration of each step (and corresponding volumes of each liquid phase) are analyzed. They vary according to both water and oil flow rates. These variations provide several insights about the fluid flows in both phases. We propose several scaling laws to relate the droplet volume and frequency to the flow rate of both phases. We also discuss the influence of surfactant and channel compliance on droplet formation.

Disciplines :

Physical, chemical, mathematical & earth Sciences: Multidisciplinary, general & others
Engineering, computing & technology: Multidisciplinary, general & others
Physics

Author, co-author :

Van Loo, Stéphanie ; Université de Liège > Département d'aérospatiale et mécanique > Microfluidique

Stoukatch, Serguei ; Université de Liège > Dép. d'électric., électron. et informat. (Inst.Montefiore) > Systèmes microélectroniques intégrés

Kraft, Michael ; Université de Liège > Dép. d'électric., électron. et informat. (Inst.Montefiore) > Systèmes microélectroniques intégrés

Gilet, Tristan ; Université de Liège > Département d'aérospatiale et mécanique > Microfluidique

Language :

English

Title :

Droplet formation by squeezing in a microfluidic cross-junction

Publication date :

12 October 2016

Journal title :

Microfluidics and Nanofluidics

ISSN :

1613-4982

eISSN :

1613-4990

Publisher :

Springer, Berlin, Germany

Volume :

Issue :

Pages :

1-12

Peer reviewed :

Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi

Funders :

FRIA - Fonds pour la Formation à la Recherche dans l'Industrie et dans l'Agriculture
Interuniversitary attraction Poles Programme (IAP7/38 MicroMAST)

Available on ORBi :

since 12 October 2016

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