On-chip encapsulation via chaotic mixing

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• 作者：Nicolas Gallé ; Victor Steinberg
• 关键词：Hemodynamic ; Interfacial polymerization ; Capsule ; Wrinkling ; Chaotic mixing
• 刊名：Microfluidics and Nanofluidics
• 出版年：2016
• 出版时间：November 2016
• 年：2016
• 卷：20
• 期：11
• 全文大小：843 KB
• 刊物类别：Engineering
• 刊物主题：Engineering Fluid Dynamics
  Medical Microbiology
  Polymer Sciences
  Nanotechnology
  Mechanics, Fluids and Thermodynamics
  Engineering Thermodynamics and Transport Phenomena
  
• 出版者：Springer Berlin / Heidelberg
• ISSN：1613-4990
• 卷排序：20

文摘

A microfluidic device for production of uniform size capsules with a prescribed membrane thickness is described. It is versatile, novel and suitable for various polymerization reactions. Parameters such as polymerization time and reagent concentrations can be precisely tuned to control the membrane properties. The device features a part which allows to overcome the diffusion barrier by initiating interfacial polymerization via chaotic mixing. It also allows the termination of the reaction and the collection of the resulting capsules. We observe different typical dynamical phenomena occurring in capsules during their flow along the microchannel, namely wrinkling of the membrane, parachute and bullet shapes and bursting of the capsules due to strong hydrodynamical flow. In addition to production, the monitoring of capsule dynamics in flow gave a possibility to estimate the elastic surface modulus \(E_{{\rm S}}\) and the membrane thickness t. We found that \(E_{{\rm S}}\) can be as low as 6 × 10−3 N m−1 and that the thickness can be below 100 nm. This microfluidic device is therefore capable of producing uniform size capsule solutions with suitable membrane properties for the controlled release of drugs, and as a model system of red blood cells for microhydrodynamics experiments.