Journal article 460 views 78 downloads
Beating Poisson stochastic particle encapsulation in flow-focusing microfluidic devices using viscoelastic liquids
Soft Matter, Volume: 18, Issue: 32, Pages: 5928 - 5933
Swansea University Author:
Francesco Del Giudice
-
PDF | Version of Record
This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence.
Download (1.38MB)
DOI (Published version): 10.1039/d2sm00935h
Abstract
The encapsulation and co-encapsulation of particles in microfluidic flows is essential in applications related to single-cell analysis and material synthesis. However, the whole encapsulation process is stochastic in nature, and its efficiency is limited by the so-called Poisson limit. We here demon...
| Published in: | Soft Matter |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 1744-683X 1744-6848 |
| Published: |
Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)
2022
|
| Online Access: |
Check full text
|
| URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa60975 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| Abstract: |
The encapsulation and co-encapsulation of particles in microfluidic flows is essential in applications related to single-cell analysis and material synthesis. However, the whole encapsulation process is stochastic in nature, and its efficiency is limited by the so-called Poisson limit. We here demonstrate particle encapsulation in microfluidic devices having flow-focusing geometries with efficiency up to 2-fold larger than the stochastic limit imposed by the Poisson statistics. To this aim, we exploited the recently observed phenomenon of particle train formation in viscoelastic liquids, so that particles could approach the encapsulation area with a constant frequency that was subsequently synchronised to the constant frequency of droplet formation. We also developed a simplified expression based on the experimental results that can guide optimal design of the microfluidic encapsulation system. Finally, we report the first experimental evidence of viscoelastic co-encapsulation of particles coming from different streams. |
|---|---|
| College: |
Faculty of Science and Engineering |
| Funders: |
F.D.G acknowledges support from EPSRC New Investigator Award, grant EP/S036490/1. |
| Issue: |
32 |
| Start Page: |
5928 |
| End Page: |
5933 |