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Generation and manipulation of “smart” droplets

Generation and manipulation of “smart” droplets
Generation and manipulation of “smart” droplets
We report the generation and manipulation of electrorheological (ER) droplets that exhibit the giant ER effect. The experiments were carried out on specially designed microfluidic chips, in which the ER droplets were generated by using the microfluidic flow-focusing approach. Both the size and formation rate of these droplets can be controlled through digitally applied electrical signals. The principle of droplet manipulation is based on the electrical responsiveness of ER droplets and hence the denotation of “smart” when the electrical signals can be triggered by sensing/control devices. Due to the unique characteristics of the GER effect, the smart droplets can deform and even stop the microfluidic channel flow under an applied electric field. The pressure difference induced by the smart droplets inside the micro-channel is controllable by varying the field strengths, droplet sizes and particle concentrations in the GER suspension. By trapping and timed release of smart droplets in different micro-branch channels, we demonstrate that the smart droplets generated upstream cannot only be stored or displayed in the desired downstream channel(s) and thereby offer the potential of micro-droplet display, but also be useful in counting, flow directing and sorting the desired number of passive droplets sandwiched between two smart droplets. Such capabilities of smart droplets will enable the programmable control of discrete processes in bio-analysis, chemical reactions, digital microfluidics, and digital droplet display.
1744-683X
576-581
Niu, Xize
f3d964fb-23b4-45db-92fe-02426e4e76fa
Zhang, Mengying
7d3eb8b3-bd02-47a2-bf03-3e000f9e2fd7
Wu, Jinbo
064c0d27-3a88-4ed1-aa8a-bf32cd254dd9
Wen, Weijia
8077209d-a633-4e3c-b0b6-16ddddb7a153
Sheng, Ping
4552ac2e-9e10-427f-a8b2-7d23c4a3a150
Niu, Xize
f3d964fb-23b4-45db-92fe-02426e4e76fa
Zhang, Mengying
7d3eb8b3-bd02-47a2-bf03-3e000f9e2fd7
Wu, Jinbo
064c0d27-3a88-4ed1-aa8a-bf32cd254dd9
Wen, Weijia
8077209d-a633-4e3c-b0b6-16ddddb7a153
Sheng, Ping
4552ac2e-9e10-427f-a8b2-7d23c4a3a150

Niu, Xize, Zhang, Mengying, Wu, Jinbo, Wen, Weijia and Sheng, Ping (2009) Generation and manipulation of “smart” droplets. Soft Matter, 5 (3), 576-581. (doi:10.1039/b816553j).

Record type: Article

Abstract

We report the generation and manipulation of electrorheological (ER) droplets that exhibit the giant ER effect. The experiments were carried out on specially designed microfluidic chips, in which the ER droplets were generated by using the microfluidic flow-focusing approach. Both the size and formation rate of these droplets can be controlled through digitally applied electrical signals. The principle of droplet manipulation is based on the electrical responsiveness of ER droplets and hence the denotation of “smart” when the electrical signals can be triggered by sensing/control devices. Due to the unique characteristics of the GER effect, the smart droplets can deform and even stop the microfluidic channel flow under an applied electric field. The pressure difference induced by the smart droplets inside the micro-channel is controllable by varying the field strengths, droplet sizes and particle concentrations in the GER suspension. By trapping and timed release of smart droplets in different micro-branch channels, we demonstrate that the smart droplets generated upstream cannot only be stored or displayed in the desired downstream channel(s) and thereby offer the potential of micro-droplet display, but also be useful in counting, flow directing and sorting the desired number of passive droplets sandwiched between two smart droplets. Such capabilities of smart droplets will enable the programmable control of discrete processes in bio-analysis, chemical reactions, digital microfluidics, and digital droplet display.

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More information

e-pub ahead of print date: 21 November 2008
Published date: 2009
Organisations: Mechatronics

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 199891
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/199891
ISSN: 1744-683X
PURE UUID: d8dac98b-3969-4be2-8444-3490f93d1c5f

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Date deposited: 21 Oct 2011 15:32
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 04:18

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Contributors

Author: Xize Niu
Author: Mengying Zhang
Author: Jinbo Wu
Author: Weijia Wen
Author: Ping Sheng

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