Droplets generation and manipulation by microfluidics offer tremendous advantages compared to more common generation techniques such as batch methods.
Droplet-based microfluidics consists in manipulating discrete volumes of fluids in an immiscible phase, such as water droplets in oil. The main advantages are the following:
Microfluidic droplets generation systems are used to create monodispersed water or oil droplets in an immiscible phase. In passive droplets production methods, the key principle is to use at least two streams of immiscible fluids and to create a shear force on one of the phases in order to break the stream into discrete droplets.
They are two main motivations for creating microfluidic droplets. The first one is to generate droplets with a very high monodispersity, and microfluidics offers very consistent sizes of droplets, contrary to conventional batch methods for emulsion productions. Material science applications, such as the food or pharmaceutical industries, greatly benefit from these new microfluidic techniques.
The second one is to compartmentalize a given sample. Microfluidic droplets are then a way to manipulate very small and precise volumes of samples, but also to realize high throughput experiments, as each droplet become a distinct micro-reactor. Moreover, droplets are a way to enhance mixing of chemical and overcome one of the most fundamental issue of single phase microfluidics.
There are different methods to produce droplets and we present here the two most used methods for digital microfluidics. These methods use two immiscible phases (usually water and oil) and specific chip designs allowing to break one of the streams in discrete droplets. In these two methods, a very accurate flow control system is necessary to obtain a precise control over the droplets parameters (size & frequency). For more detailed protocols, please check out our application note.
Surface wettability: This is a crucial parameter to avoid droplets from sticking to the chip’s walls. For water-in-oil droplets, the surface must be hydrophobic. For oil-in-water emulsion, the surface must be hydrophilic.
Surfactant: The use of surfactant helps prevent droplets coalescence.
In the flow focusing method, the middle phase is squeezed between two streams of the continuous phase.
In this configuration, the two phases are injected (generally with a pressure controller) in two orthogonal channels. The droplet formation occurs at the intersection of the two channels.
You will find hereafter a short list of microfluidic publications about droplets generation and manipulation. If you wish to add a specific publication to this list, please contact us!
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Do you want tips on how to best set up your microfluidic experiment? Do you need inspiration or a different angle to take on your specific problem? Well, we probably have an application note just for you, feel free to check them out!
Microfluidic sequential production and trapping of droplets for in situ optical analysis.
A protocol for high monodispersity and high encapsulation efficiency double emulsion production for encapsulation using microfluidics
Droplet-based microfluidics and single spore encapsulation offer the key for a breakthrough in antifungal screening and fungicide discovery.
Generate picoliter-sized microdroplets and perform single cell encapsulation with this detailled microfluidic protocol.
Nanobubble generation performed by microfluidics is described in an application note. Nanobubbles are very singular by their generation and properties.
Everything you need to know about microbubble generation, from theory to the microfluidics experimental steps.
This application note will show you how highly monodispersed droplets can be easily generated to encapsulate single spore of fungus using a microfluidic droplet generation system.
Highly monodispersed alginate beads can be easily generated with a microfluidic droplet generation system.
Two-phase flow microfluidics allow to perfom different laboratory functions on one microfluidic Lab-on-Chip (LoC) platform. An example of such an application is the controlled production of droplets on chip.
This application note describes how to generate controlled size millifluidic droplets in a capillary by regulating the pressure rate and/or by regulating the flow rate.
Droplets generation has a large scale of applications, such as emulsion production, single cell analysis, drug delivery or nanoparticles synthesis. Droplets can also be used as micro bioreactors for chemical or biochemical reactions.
Precise and effective control of droplet generation is critical for applications of droplet microfluidics ranging from materials synthesis to lab-on-a-chip systems.
Active droplet generation in microfluidics is of high interest for a wide range of applications. It provides an additional degree of freedom in manipulating both the size and the formation frequency of micro-droplets. This additional control is extremely desirable for complex operations which rely on the accurate control of both parameters.
Microfluidic droplet in a chip also called droplet generation by microfluidics presents many application & advantages. The droplet generation pack has been designed to fit most common droplet generation needs of researchers.
Droplet microfluidics and single cell encapsulation offer the key for a discovery engine in antibody therapy.
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