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Generation of double emulsions from commercial single-emulsion microfluidic chips: a quality-control study

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Abstract

Microfluidic devices can form monodisperse double emulsions, but the fabrication steps are complicated and require specialized equipment. Recently, a method to convert single emulsions into double emulsions using vortex mixers has been proposed. Using this method, we demonstrate the production of double emulsions using commercially available single-emulsion microfluidic chips. We characterize the effect of vortex speed, vortex duration and the number of vortex/flick cycles on the average diameter and coefficient of variation of the double emulsions. Using fluorescent nanoparticles as tracers, we show that droplet breakup occurs during the second emulsification (using the vortex), but did not observe any fusion between the cores of double emulsion droplets. We also found that some inverted double emulsion droplets containing the outer water phase in their core were produced during vortex emulsification. Finally, while commercial chips only exist with a finite range of channel size that sets the monodispersed emulsion droplet radius, we show that the double-emulsion droplet radius can be adjusted using osmotic pumping. Our method is simple, available and user-friendly for biomedical researchers.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China with Grant Nos. 12004078, 51950410582, and 61874033, the Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality Nos 22QA1400900 and 22WZ2502200, and the State Key Lab of ASIC and System, Fudan University with Grant No. 2021KF003, 2020KF006, 2021MS001 and 2021MS002. This work was supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities with Grant No. D5000210626. This project was also supported by Institut Pasteur (PTR 393-ZOOFOAMENV) as well as the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Major Project (Grant No. 2019SHZDZX02).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of ASIC and System, School of Microelectronics, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China

    Siying Lin, Jia Zhou & Antoine Riaud

  2. The Center for Microbes, Development and Health, Institut Pasteur of Shanghai-Chinese Academy of Sciences, Discovery and Molecular Characterization of Pathogens, Shanghai, 200031, China

    Lingjing Mao, Jiaxu Ying & Nicolas Berthet

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  1. Siying Lin
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  2. Lingjing Mao
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  3. Jiaxu Ying
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  4. Nicolas Berthet
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  5. Jia Zhou
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  6. Antoine Riaud
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Correspondence to Nicolas Berthet, Jia Zhou or Antoine Riaud.

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Lin, S., Mao, L., Ying, J. et al. Generation of double emulsions from commercial single-emulsion microfluidic chips: a quality-control study. Microfluid Nanofluid 26, 71 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10404-022-02575-7

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