Parallel synchronization of two trains of droplets using a railroad-like channel network
Parallel synchronization of two trains of droplets using a railroad-like channel network
复制标题
DOI：
10.1039/c1lc20690g
复制
发表时间：
2011-01-01
期刊：
影响因子：
6.1
通讯作者：
Oh, Kwang W.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Ahn, Byungwook;Lee, Kangsun;Oh, Kwang W.
我们提出了一种在类似铁路的通道网络中同步油包水滴的简单方法。该网络由顶部通道、底部通道以及在两个主要通道之间互连的梯状通道组成。顶部和底部通道之间存在压差，导致载油通过梯形网络交叉流动，直到每个通道中的压力自动平衡。所提出的模型和方法证明了两列液滴并行同步的可行性，同步效率高达95%。通过控制每个通道中的流速，系统地改变液滴长度和液滴生成频率，研究了可以提高效率的物理参数。在生成频率的细微差异下，夹在阶梯网络中两个匹配液滴之间的不匹配液滴依次切换和同步。为了实现完美的一对一液滴同步，顶部和底部通道的液滴长度和液滴生成频率需要相同。此外，通过匹配顶部和底部通道的液滴长度和液滴生成频率的乘积，证明了一对多液滴同步。所提出的方法为液滴序列的并行同步提供了简单的单元操作，可以轻松地与传统的基于连续流液滴的微流体平台集成。
We present a simple method of water-in-oil droplet synchronization in a railroad-like channel network. The network consisted of a top channel, a bottom channel, and ladder-like channels interconnected between the two main channels. The presence of the pressure difference between the top and bottom channels resulted in the crossflow of carrier oil through the ladder network until the pressure in each channel was balanced automatically. The proposed model and method proved the feasibility of the parallel synchronization of two trains of droplets with up to 95% synchronization efficiency. Physical parameters that could improve the efficiency were investigated with the systematic variation of the droplet length and droplet generation frequency by controlling the flow rate in each channel. Under a subtle difference in the generation frequency, an unmatched droplet sandwiched between two matched droplets in the ladder network was switched and synchronized in turn. For perfect one-to-one droplet synchronization, the droplet length and the droplet generation frequency needed to be the same for both the top and bottom channels. In addition, one-to-multiple droplet synchronization was demonstrated by matching the product of the droplet length and the droplet generation frequency for both the top and bottom channels. The proposed method provides a simple unit operation for parallel synchronization of the trains of droplets that can be easily integrated with the conventional continuous-flow droplet-based microfluidic platform.