Faster droplet production by delayed surfactant-addition in two-phase microfluidics to form thermo-sensitive microgels.
Microfluidic droplet templating produces monodisperse particles of well controllable sizes, but this is limited by the necessity to operate microfluidic devices at low flow rates in the dripping regime. Here, the per-channel rate of droplet production could be substantially increased by delayed surfactant addition as applied and verified for microfluidic production of N-isopropylacrylamide based microgels.
Helmholtz Virtual Institute, "Multifunctional Biomaterials for Medicine", Kantstr. 55, D-14513 Teltow, Germany; Institute of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Freie Universität Berlin, Takustr. 3, D-14195 Berlin, Germany; Soft Matter and Functional Materials, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin, Hahn-Meitner-Platz 1, D-14109 Berlin, Germany. Electronic address: seiffert@chemie.fu-berlin.de.
Sebastian
S
Seiffert
Helmholtz Virtual Institute, "Multifunctional Biomaterials for Medicine", Kantstr. 55, D-14513 Teltow, Germany; Institute of Biomaterial Science and Berlin-Brandenburg Center for Regenerative Therapies, Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht, Kantstr. 55, D-14513 Teltow, Germany.
Fabian
F
Friess
Helmholtz Virtual Institute, "Multifunctional Biomaterials for Medicine", Kantstr. 55, D-14513 Teltow, Germany; Institute of Biomaterial Science and Berlin-Brandenburg Center for Regenerative Therapies, Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht, Kantstr. 55, D-14513 Teltow, Germany.
Andreas
A
Lendlein
Helmholtz Virtual Institute, "Multifunctional Biomaterials for Medicine", Kantstr. 55, D-14513 Teltow, Germany; Institute of Biomaterial Science and Berlin-Brandenburg Center for Regenerative Therapies, Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht, Kantstr. 55, D-14513 Teltow, Germany. Electronic address: christian.wischke@hzg.de.
Christian
C
Wischke
D000178:Acrylamides / Q000737:chemistry*; D007219:Industrial Oils / Q000032:analysis*; D056656:Lab-On-A-Chip Devices; D046210:Microfluidic Analytical Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D012212:Rheology; D013501:Surface-Active Agents / Q000737:chemistry*
D000178:Acrylamides; D013501:Surface-Active Agents; C067295:N-isopropylacrylamide
Droplet based microfluidics; Microgel; Rapid production