Tunable spatial heterogeneity in structure and composition within aqueous microfluidic droplets
In this paper, we demonstrate biphasic microfluidic droplets with broadly tunable internal structures, from simple near-equilibrium drop-in-drop morphologies to complex yet uniform non-equilibrium steady-state structures. The droplets contain an aqueous mixture of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and dex...
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Veröffentlicht in: | Biomicrofluidics 2012-06, Vol.6 (2), p.022005-022005-8 |
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Format: | Artikel |
Sprache: | eng |
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Zusammenfassung: | In this paper, we demonstrate biphasic microfluidic droplets with broadly tunable internal structures, from simple near-equilibrium drop-in-drop morphologies to complex yet uniform non-equilibrium steady-state structures. The droplets contain an aqueous mixture of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and dextran and are dispensed into an immiscible oil in a microfluidic T-junction device. Above a certain well-defined threshold droplet speed, the inner dextran-rich phase is “stirred” within the outer PEG-rich phase. The stirred polymer mixture is observed to exhibit a near continuum of speed and composition-dependent phase morphologies. There is increasing interest in the use of such aqueous two-phase systems in microfluidic devices for biomolecular applications in a variety of contexts. Our work presents a method to go beyond equilibrium phase morphologies in generating microfluidic “multiple” emulsions and at the same time raises the possibility of biochemical experimentation in benign yet complex biomimetic milieus. |
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ISSN: | 1932-1058 1932-1058 |
DOI: | 10.1063/1.3694841 |