Advances in Micro-Droplets Coalescence Using Microfluidics

Shen, Feng; Li, Yang; Liu, Zhaomiao; Cao, Rentuo; Wang, Guiren

doi:10.1016/s1872-2040(15)60886-6

Cited by 44 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 71 publications

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“…Droplet merging, especially active merging, finds impactful applications in chemistry and biology such as fast reaction kinetics, drug discovery, , biomolecule and nanoparticle synthesis. Gu et al and Feng et al have extensively reviewed droplet merging techniques in microfluidics.…”

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confidence: 99%

Coalescence of Surfactant-Stabilized Adjacent Droplets Using Surface Acoustic Waves

2019

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A novel, on-demand microuidic droplet merging mechanism is presented in this paper. We demonstrate that a narrow beam surface acoustic wave (SAW), targeted at the oil buer, causes nearby surfactant-stabilised droplets to coalesce. The lack of direct exposure of the droplet to the excitation stimulus makes this method ideal for sensitive samples as harm will not occur. This powerful technique works on a straight channel with no special design, is not aected by surfactant concentration and droplet volume hence promises seamless integration into existing microuidic systems. It oers highthroughput, biologically safe, on-demand droplet merging for applications ranging from fast reaction kinetics to microuidic high throughput screening (µHTS). We thoroughly characterise the physical mechanism triggering droplet-droplet coalescence and observe a cut-o distance from the centre of the acoustic beam to the droplet-droplet interface after which the merging mechanism does not work any more. We establish that the most likely mechanism for merging is acoustic streaming induced droplet deformation.

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confidence: 99%

Coalescence of Surfactant-Stabilized Adjacent Droplets Using Surface Acoustic Waves

2019

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“…Second, the thin film of continuous phase fluid separating both droplets will gradually be reduced. Last, a fluidic bridge between both droplets is formed due to film rupture, resulting in merging of the droplets 102 .…”

Section: Active Droplet Coalescencementioning

confidence: 99%

“…This concept is highly suitable for applications involving simultaneous screening of different samples within a device 105,106 . A list of reviews has been published by numerous research groups 102,[107][108][109] , where a variety of methods are described to be thermal, acoustic, optical, pneumatic, magnetic and electric. The most common method is using electric fields 110 .…”

Section: Active Droplet Coalescencementioning

confidence: 99%

Technological Development – Droplet as a Tool

Teo

Tan

Nguyen

2020

Droplet Microfluidics

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The high uptake of droplet microfluidics in multidisciplinary research is mainly due to its capability of being a micro-scale laboratory with high versatility in controlling each microreactor. Through the implementation of three main manipulation methods, multiple reactions can be produced and subsequently used for different applications.Droplets of a predetermined mediums are first generated. Subsequently, the coalescence of different droplets can also take place to mix different reagents. Finally, sorting of droplets according to pre-set variables are carried out, facilitating analysis of results. Each manipulation method, however, can be carried out using a variety of active control methods. These can be categorised into electrical, magnetic, thermal, pneumatic, and occasionally acoustic and optical means. Further elaborations are provided in this chapter to illustrate these methods with the repertoire of mechanisms developed for these purposes. The advancement of such techniques enables high selectivity with minimal waste of resources, reducing the carbon footprint of laboratories while concurrently pursuing science.

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“…Therefore, the droplet-based microfluidics has many advantages, such as high throughput, low cost, small sample volumes (2–4 nL), precise control of reagent composition, fast mixing, and minimal contamination (Leman et al 2015; Lin and Qin. 2008; Li et al 2012; Shen et al 2015a, b). So far, its applications have rapidly advanced to a broad range of chemical and biological assays such as droplet-based cell screening and diagnostics (Schoeman et al 2014; Mark et al 2010; Mu et al 2013; Qi et al 2012; Yeo et al 2011; Gijs et al 2010), drug delivery (Yang et al 2015), single-molecule investigations (Dutse and Yusof 2011; Mai et al 2012), and microreactors (Dou et al 2016; Marques and Fernandes 2011; Sun et al 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Study of flow behaviors of droplet merging and splitting in microchannels using Micro-PIV measurement

Shen

Liu

et al. 2017

Microfluid Nanofluid

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Droplet merging and splitting are important droplet manipulations in droplet-based microfluidics. However, the fundamental flow behaviors of droplets were not systematically studied. Hence, we designed two different microstructures to achieve droplet merging and splitting respectively, and quantitatively compared different flow dynamics in different microstructures for droplet merging and splitting via micro-particle image velocimetry (micro-PIV) experiments. Some flow phenomena of droplets different from previous studies were observed during merging and splitting using a high-speed microscope. It was also found the obtained instantaneous velocity vector fields of droplets have significant influence on the droplets merging and splitting. For droplet merging, the probability of droplets coalescence (η) in a microgroove is higher (50% < η < 92%) than that in a T-junction microchannel (15% < η < 50%), and the highest coalescence efficiency (η = 92%) comes at the two-phase flow ratio e of 0.42 in the microgroove. Moreover, compared with a cylinder obstacle, Y-junction bifurcation can split droplets more effectively and the droplet flow during splitting is steadier. The results can provide better understanding of droplet behaviors and are useful for the design and applications of droplet-based microfluidics.

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Advances in Micro-Droplets Coalescence Using Microfluidics

Cited by 44 publications

References 71 publications

Coalescence of Surfactant-Stabilized Adjacent Droplets Using Surface Acoustic Waves

Coalescence of Surfactant-Stabilized Adjacent Droplets Using Surface Acoustic Waves

Technological Development – Droplet as a Tool

Study of flow behaviors of droplet merging and splitting in microchannels using Micro-PIV measurement

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