Method for conducting an autocatalytic reaction in plugs in a microfluidic system

A method of forming a plurality of plugs and conducting an autocatalytic reaction in at least one thereof, the method comprising the steps of:

• providing a microfluidic device comprising a substrate having at least a first channel and a second channel intersecting each other at a downstream plug-forming junction;
• introducing to the first channel of the microfluidic device a stream of a first plug fluid containing at least one substrate molecule and a stream of a second plug fluid containing one or more reagents for conducting an autocatalytic reaction with the at least one substrate molecule;
• continuously coflowing the stream of the first plug fluid and the stream of the second plug fluid with one another and through the first channel towards the plug-forming junction such that at least one substrate molecule of the first plug fluid and one or more reagents, of the second plug fluid, for conducting an autocatalytic reaction with the at least one substrate molecule coflow with one another prior to contact with a carrier fluid and prior to plug formation;
• continuously flowing a stream of a carrier fluid comprising an oil immiscible with the streams of first and second plug fluids through the second channel of the microfluidic device towards the plug-forming junction, wherein the carrier fluid comprises a fluorosurfactant that comprises an oligoethylene glycol (OEG) terminal end to which an OEG is linked;
• forming a plurality of plugs comprising a subvolume of the coflowing first and second plug fluids containing the at least one substrate molecule and the one or more reagents, respectively, by partitioning the continuously coflowing streams of first and second plug fluids with the continuously flowing carrier fluid at the plug-forming junction of the first and second channels, each of the plurality of plugs being substantially surrounded by the carrier fluid, wherein at least one of the plurality of plugs comprises at least one substrate molecule and one or more reagents for conducting an autocatalytic reaction with the at least one substrate molecule;
• and
• providing conditions suitable for the autocatalytic reaction in the at least one plug such that the at least one substrate molecule is amplified.