Catalytic oxygen production mediated by smart capsules to modulate elastic turbulence under a laminar flow regimeElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Two additional figures and the description of the experiments/model to extrapolate "c" values of the capillary dynamics. See DOI: 10.1039/c4lc00791c

Liquid flow in microchannels is completely laminar and uniaxial, with a very low Reynolds number regime and long mixing lengths. To increase fluid mixing and solubility of reactants, as well as to reduce reaction time, complex three-dimensional networks inducing chaotic advection have to be designed. Alternatively, turbulence in the liquid can be generated by active mixing methods (magnetic, acoustic waves, etc. ) or adding small quantities of elastic materials to the working liquid. Here, polyelectrolyte multilayer capsules embodying a catalytic polyoxometalate complex have been suspended in an aqueous solution and used to create elastic turbulence and to propel fluids inside microchannels as an alternative to viscoelastic polymers. The overall effect is enhanced and controlled by feeding the polyoxometalate-modified capsules with hydrogen peroxide, H 2 O 2 , thus triggering an on-demand propulsion due to oxygen evolution resulting from H 2 O 2 decomposition. The quantification of the process is done by analysing some structural parameters of motion such as speed, pressure, viscosity, and Reynolds and Weissenberg numbers, directly obtained from the capillary dynamics of the aqueous mixtures with different concentrations of H 2 O 2 . The increases in fluid speed as well as the capsule-induced turbulence effects are proportional to the H 2 O 2 added and therefore dependent on the kinetics of H 2 O 2 dismutation. Catalytic polyelectrolyte microcapsules generate elastic turbulence under a laminar flow regime with Wi and Re increases triggered by H 2 O 2 addition.