Droplet formation by squeezing in a microfluidic cross-junction

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

doi:10.1007/s10404-016-1807-1

Cited by 56 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…The drop formation in microfluidic devices occurs mainly in dripping and jetting regimes which are reported in all microfluidic geometries [ 14 , 82 , 83 , 84 , 85 ]. The squeezing mode is mostly reported in T-junctions and flow focusing devices [ 86 , 87 , 88 , 89 , 90 , 91 , 92 ], Figure 2 . In addition, a tip streaming mode, resulting in controlled generation of submicron droplets, was reported in flow focusing devices at high viscosity ratios of the dispersed to continuous phase.…”

Section: Microfluidic Fabrication Of Multiple Emulsionsmentioning

confidence: 95%

Microfluidic Production of Multiple Emulsions

2017

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Microfluidic devices are promising tools for the production of monodispersed tuneable complex emulsions. This review highlights the advantages of microfluidics for the fabrication of emulsions and presents an overview of the microfluidic emulsification methods including two-step and single-step methods for the fabrication of high-order multiple emulsions (double, triple, quadruple and quintuple) and emulsions with multiple and/or multi-distinct inner cores. The microfluidic methods for the formation of multiple emulsion drops with ultra-thin middle phase, multi-compartment jets, and Janus and ternary drops composed of two or three distinct surface regions are also presented. Different configurations of microfluidic drop makers are covered, such as co-flow, T-junctions and flow focusing (both planar and three-dimensional (3D)). Furthermore, surface modifications of microfluidic channels and different modes of droplet generation are summarized. Non-confined microfluidic geometries used for buoyancy-driven drop generation and membrane integrated microfluidics are also discussed. The review includes parallelization and drop splitting strategies for scaling up microfluidic emulsification. The productivity of a single drop maker is typically <1 mL/h; thus, more than 1000 drop makers are needed to achieve commercially relevant droplet throughputs of >1 L/h, which requires combining drop makers into two-dimensional (2D) and 3D assemblies fed from a single set of inlet ports through a network of distribution and collection channels.

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Section: Microfluidic Fabrication Of Multiple Emulsionsmentioning

confidence: 95%

Microfluidic Production of Multiple Emulsions

2017

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“…13 Due to the wide range of applications of droplet flow and bubble flow in miniaturized equipment also droplet generators and channel geometry vary according to the application. Common droplet generation approaches are cross-flow, 15 as the T-junction, [16][17][18][19][20][21] where the continuous phase and dispersed phase meet perpendicularly, flowfocusing, [22][23][24][25] where the dispersed phase is elongated by shear forces imposed by the continuous phase, and the co-flow configuration, [26][27][28][29] where the dispersed phase is introduced to the continuous phase with a thin needle that intrudes into the main channel concentrically. Most microfluidic devices consist of rectangular channels, however, circular [30][31][32][33][34] or even trapezoidal 35,36 cross-sections are possible, too.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…37 Important parameters that affect the droplet formation and break-up in confined geometries are the capillary number Ca, flow rate ratio ϕ, and the generator geometry. 19,[37][38][39] In Equation (1) _ V dis and _ V c are the volume flow rates of the dispersed (index dis) and the continuous phase (index c). The capillary number,…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Micro‐computed tomography for the 3D time‐resolved investigation of monodisperse droplet generation in a co‐flow setup

et al. 2020

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Droplet generation in microfluidic devices has emerged as a promising approach for the design of highly controllable processes in the chemical and pharmaceutical industry. However, droplet generation is still not fully understood due to the complexity of the underlying physics. In this work, micro-computed tomography is applied to investigate droplet formation in a circular channel in a co-flow configuration at different flow conditions (Ca < 0.001). The application of an in-house developed scanning protocol assisted by comprehensive image processing allows for the time-resolved investigation of droplet formation. By tracking different droplet parameters (length, radii, volume, surface, Laplace pressure) the effect of flow conditions on droplet progression is determined. As characteristic for the squeezing regime, final droplet size was nearly independent of Ca for higher Ca tested. For lower Ca, the final droplet size increased with decreasing Ca, which points to the leaking regime that was recently introduced in the literature.

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“…The mixing performance in different microchannels were compared, and found that the cross-shaped T-junction was the best. Van Loo et al [29] studied the droplet formation in a cross-junction microchannel by experimental methods. They mainly focused on two steps of slug generation, and several scaling laws were proposed to relate the droplet volume and generation frequency.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of a Dynamic Injection Flow Rate on Slug Generation in a Cross-Junction Square Microchannel

Qian

Chen

et al. 2019

Processes

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The injection flow rates of two liquid phases play a decisive role in the slug generation of the liquid-liquid slug flow. However, most injection flow rates so far have been constant. In order to investigate the effects of dynamic injection flow rates on the slug generation, including the slug size, separation distance and slug generation cycle time, a transient numerical model of a cross-junction square microchannel is established. The Volume of Fluid method is adopted to simulate the interface between two phases, i.e., butanol and water. The model is validated by experiments at a constant injection flow rate. Three different types of dynamic injection flow rates are applied for butanol, which are triangle, rectangular and sine wave flow rates. The dynamic injection flow rate cycles, which are related to the constant slug generation cycle time t0, are investigated. Results show that when the cycle of the disperse phase flow rate is larger than t0, the slug generation changes periodically, and the period is influenced by the cycle of the disperse phase flow rate. Among the three kinds of dynamic disperse flow rate, the rectangular wave influences the slug size most significantly, while the triangle wave influences the separation distance and the slug generation time more prominently.

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Droplet formation by squeezing in a microfluidic cross-junction

Cited by 56 publications

References 45 publications

Microfluidic Production of Multiple Emulsions

Microfluidic Production of Multiple Emulsions

Micro‐computed tomography for the 3D time‐resolved investigation of monodisperse droplet generation in a co‐flow setup

Effects of a Dynamic Injection Flow Rate on Slug Generation in a Cross-Junction Square Microchannel

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