Microfluidic droplet-on-demand systems allow the controllable construction of multiple droplets of previously unattainable morphologies. Guided by the diagrams of the possible topologies of double droplets we investigate in detail the vistas to control the morphology of Janus droplets. We also explore and control new morphologies of multiple Janus droplets, i.e., arbitrarily long chains of alternating immiscible segments. Theoretical calculations together with the control offered by the use of automation allow the design of both the topology and the geometry (e.g. curvatures of the interfaces) of the multiple droplets. The ability to rationally design convex-convex, convex-concave and concaveconvex segments may be useful in material science, while the ability to tune the distances between the interfaces in the chains of droplets may have applications in designing artificial biochemical signalling networks.
We demonstrate a new droplet on demand (DOD) technique and an integrated system for scanning of arbitrary combinations of 3 miscible solutions in approximately 1.5 microL droplets at 3 Hz. The DOD system uses standard electromagnetic valves that are external to the microfluidic chip. This feature makes up for modularity, simplicity of assembly and compatibility with virtually any microfluidic chip and yields an on-chip footprint of less than 1 mm(2). A novel protocol for formation of DOD enables generation of an arbitrarily large range of volumes of droplets at a maximum operational frequency of approximately 30 Hz. The integrated system that we demonstrate can be used to scan up to 10,000 conditions of chemical and biochemical reactions per hour using approximately 10 mL of solutions in total.
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