1. Hydrodynamic control of droplets coalescence in microfluidic devices to fabricate two-dimensional anisotropic particles through boundary element method.
- Author
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Jingtao Wang, Dongming Yu, Hefeng Jing, and Jun Tao
- Subjects
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HYDRODYNAMICS , *COALESCENCE (Chemistry) , *MICROFLUIDIC devices , *FABRICATION (Manufacturing) , *ANISOTROPY , *BOUNDARY element methods , *DRUG delivery systems - Abstract
Multicompartment and patchy particles attract much attention recently due to their great potentials in many fields such as drug delivery systems and photonic crystal materials. The controlled coalescence of droplets might be a promising approach to fabricate such particles since different droplets might be composed of distinct components or might contain diverse functional solutes. Through a two-dimensional boundary element method, we investigate the controlled adhesion of small droplets to specific locations of a main drop via careful flow control at inlets and outlets of a skillfully designed microfluidic device at low Reynolds numbers. This paper presents an original procedure to construct anisotropic particles assisted by microfluidics. By alternating extensional and rotational flow at the central cavity of the micro-device, it is possible to make small droplets adhere to the main drop one by one at expected location and thus fabricate patchy particles with multiple patches at expected angles in two dimensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2014
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