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Microdroplet generation in gaseous and liquid environments

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Abstract

As trends in biology, chemistry, medicine and manufacturing have pushed macroscopic processes onto the micro scale, droplet generation has been a key factor in allowing these methods to translate. For both surface-based liquid-in-gas generation and lab-on-a-chip-based liquid-in-liquid generation, the ability to create small monodisperse liquid droplets is critically important in constructing reliable and practical devices. This article reviews liquid microdroplet generation in gaseous and liquid environments, covering the general characteristics of generators and the specific methods and technologies used for generation. Furthermore, this study compiles the issues encountered when operating generators, and the measurements and instrumentation used to characterize generated droplets. Applications of droplet generation in printing, analysis, synthesis and manufacturing are also discussed.

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Notes

  1. In this review, air will be the assumed gas in liquid-in-gas generators unless otherwise noted.

  2. Coefficient of variation (CV): ratio of the standard deviation to the mean.

  3. Potentially fluorescent molecules are tagged with a probe that can later be reacted with a fluorescently labeled affinity reaction.

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Acknowledgments

This work is partly funded by the George Washington University Facilitating Fund/Dilthey grant # 111701.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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  1. Robotics and Mechatronics Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Science, The George Washington University, 725 23rd St NW, Room 409, Washington, DC, 20037, USA

    Pinhas Ben-Tzvi & Will Rone

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  1. Pinhas Ben-Tzvi
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Correspondence to Pinhas Ben-Tzvi.

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Ben-Tzvi, P., Rone, W. Microdroplet generation in gaseous and liquid environments. Microsyst Technol 16, 333–356 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00542-009-0962-7

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