Abstract
Creating droplets with viscous media in microfluidic devices is extremely problematic due to the early onset of jetting. This report presents a method of creating highly monodisperse single emulsions of high viscosity (≈100 cP for both dispersed and continuous phases) using glass-based microfluidics. This method utilises a three-phase flow technique, where internal water droplets are introduced into a would-be-jetting oil stream forcing the system into a quasi-dripping regime to produce highly monodisperse core–shell drops that later rupture to form single drops. Emulsions with droplet diameters between 75 and 120 μm with a C v < 2 % were created at flow rates of up to 500 μl/h using this three-phase technique where similar emulsions using the standard two-phase technique could not be obtained. The rate of addition of internal droplets to induce a quasi-dripping mode was found to be similar to the dominant perturbation frequencies required to rupture a jet according to Plateau–Rayleigh instability theory.
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We acknowledge the use made of Vision Research Phantom V7.1 which was borrowed from the EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) Engineering Instrument Pool.
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Josephides, D.N., Sajjadi, S. Microfluidic method for creating monodisperse viscous single emulsions via core–shell templating. Microfluid Nanofluid 18, 383–390 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10404-014-1439-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10404-014-1439-2