Droplet Pattern Formation and Translation in New Microfluidic Flow-Focusing Devices

Abstract

We conducted experiments on specially designed microfluidic chips that generate droplets through a microfluidic flow-focusing approach. The fluid flow in the microfluidic channel produced a shear flow field at low Reynolds numbers. The droplets in the microfluidic system exhibited special droplet pattern formations similar to periodic crystal-like lattices because of the competition between shear forces and surface tension. By adjusting the flow rate ratio of the water (droplet phase) to oil (continuous phase) phases and changing the outlet channel widths, the droplets formed monolayer dispersion to double-layer formation to monolayer squeezing when the outlet channel widths were 250 or 300 µm. We also obtained droplets with monolayer dispersion, three-layer arrangements, double-layer squeezing, and monolayer squeezing when the outlet channel width was 350 µm. The outlet channel width was increased to 400 µm, and four-layer arrangements were observed. We also studied the translation of droplet formation, which resulted in a detailed strategy to control drop size and droplet pattern formation for emulsification in microfluidic devices. We expect that our strategy can provide theoretical guidance to synthesize dispersion or polydisperse colloid particles.