title: Oil droplet generation in PDMS microchannel using an amphiphilic continuous phase.
abstract: This paper reports an amphiphilic solution can be used as a new continuous phase to generate double droplet emulsions (water/oil/IPA) with neither surface treatment nor surfactant in PDMS microfluidic chip. The affinity of various amphiphilic solutions in the microchannel was influenced by the polarity ratio and the size of molecules. The polarity ratio of isopropyl alcohol (IPA) was closest to that of the recovered PDMS surface and the chain length of IPA was also suitable for high affinity. IPA showed the highest affinity for the recovered PDMS and was selected as the continuous phase to form oil droplets in a PDMS microchannel. With this new continuous phase solution, IPA, we could successfully generate not only oil droplets but also double emulsions in the PDMS microfluidic chips.
authors.affiliation: Nano-Bioresearch Center, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, 39-1 Hawolgok Dong, Songbuk Gu, 136-791, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Su-Kyoung
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Chae
authors.forename: Chang-Ha
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Soo Hyun
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Tae-Song
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Ji Yoon
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Kang
mesh_terms: D019840:2-Propanol / Q000737:chemistry; D004129:Dimethylpolysiloxanes / Q000737:chemistry*; D004655:Emulsions / Q000737:chemistry*; D046210:Microfluidic Analytical Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D008899:Mineral Oil / Q000737:chemistry*; D010316:Particle Size; D013499:Surface Properties; D013501:Surface-Active Agents / Q000737:chemistry*; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D004129:Dimethylpolysiloxanes; D004655:Emulsions; D013501:Surface-Active Agents; D014867:Water; C013830:baysilon; D008899:Mineral Oil; D019840:2-Propanol