Microfluidic production of monodispersed submicron emulsion through filtration and sorting of satellite drops
AssigneeThe Regents of the University of California
InventorsAbraham Lee, Yung-Cheih Tan
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Abstract
Improved systems and methods are provided herein for passively filtering out droplets of different size such as satellite droplets from the generation of primary droplets and use these satellite droplets as the source for monodispersed production of submicron emulsions. The systems and methods described use active flow control to sort droplets of different size into desired collecting zones and use conventional shearing principles, and, as a result, provide 100% filtration of satellite droplets regardless of size differences.
Claims6
A microfluidic device for the production of mondispersed submicron emulsion comprising
- a droplet generation zone,
- a sorting zone connected to the droplet generation zone, and
- a plurality of collecting zones coupled to the sorting zone, whereby droplets of different size are sorted and collected into one of the plurality of collecting zones.
A method for producing monodispersed satellite droplets comprising the steps of
- generating primary and satellite droplets from a fluid thread,
- sorting the satellite droplets from the primary droplets,
- collecting the satellite droplets in a first collection zone, and
- collecting the primary droplets in a second collection zone.
A method of sorting droplets of differing sizes, the method comprising the steps of
- injecting a dispersed phase through a first inlet,
- injecting a continuous phase through second and third inlets, and
- adjusting the flow ratio of the continuous phase through the second and third inlets to adjust the position of a droplet break off point and droplet separation point in a droplet generation zone,
- wherein the droplets include first and second droplets,
- the first droplets being larger in size than the second droplets.
A passive droplet separation device comprising
- top and bottom layers coupled together,
- a channel formed in the top layer,
- a first outlet coupled to the channel,
- a reservoir formed in the bottom layer and coupled with the channel and
- a second outlet coupled to the reservoir,
- wherein droplets within a bifurcated flow separate as a function of droplet surface area and shear rate.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.