1
|
Yang ZY, Yang SZ, Sun GZ, Wang WD, Fei D, Mu BZ, Gang HZ. High efficiency of biosurfactants in stabilizing oil micro-droplets within the aging time scale of milliseconds: a microfluidic study. SOFT MATTER 2024; 20:6635-6647. [PMID: 39109438 DOI: 10.1039/d4sm00630e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/23/2024]
Abstract
Rapid adsorption of surfactants onto a freshly formed interface is vital for emulsification because emulsification is a competitive process occurring between the very short time span of interface formation and surfactant mass transport. The biosurfactant surfactin has been previously reported to reach adsorption equilibrium at the hydrophobic/hydrophilic interface within hundreds of milliseconds and rapidly reduce the interfacial tension compared to chemically synthesized surfactants. According to a prior study, surfactin is expected to exhibit good performance in stabilizing micro-droplets of oil within the aging time scale of milliseconds. Herein, the stabilities of micro-droplets of n-hexadecane in the presence of a biosurfactant, surfactin (C15-SFT), and a chemically synthesized surfactant, sodium cetyl benzene sulfonate (8-SCBS), were investigated using a microfluidic method. The coalescence frequency of micro-droplets, the evolution of micro-droplet size, and the coalescence time of micro-droplets were evaluated. The results indicated that C15-SFT exhibited superiority over 8-SCBS in stabilizing the micro-droplets of n-hexadecane. Biosurfactant C15-SFT effectively reduced the fusion probability between oil droplets and elongated the coalescence time compared to 8-SCBS, and these phenomena were obvious at a shorter aging time (150 ms) and lower surfactant concentration (0.1 × critical micelle concentration). The stabilities of micro-droplets increased with aging time and the bulk concentration of surfactants. Stable micro-droplets of n-hexadecane were formed in 1 × 10-4 mol L-1 C15-SFT solution at 600 ms aging time, and the bulk concentration was 1 × 10-3 mol L-1 in the case of 8-SCBS. The micro-droplets rarely coalesced in the presence of 1 × 10-4 mol L-1 C15-SFT after 600 ms aging time, but the micro-droplets in 1 × 10-4 mol L-1 8-SCBS coalesced frequently in the midstream and downstream of the coalescence chamber, and big droplets were dominant in the emulsion. The coalescence time of micro-droplets stabilized by C15-SFT was obviously longer than that of those stabilized by 8-SCBS under the same condition, indicating that the interfacial film formed by C15-SFT has much strength to resist coalescence during collisions. This work is helpful for understanding the activity of lipopeptides in the very short early stage of the emulsification process, laying the foundation for biosurfactant research in the fields of enhanced oil recovery, bioremediation of contaminated water or soil, etc.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Zhi-Yuan Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering and School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Meilong 130, 200237 Shanghai, P. R. China
| | - Shi-Zhong Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering and School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Meilong 130, 200237 Shanghai, P. R. China
- Engineering Research Center of Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery, MOE, East China University of Science and Technology, Meilong 130, Shanghai, 200237, P. R. China
| | - Gang-Zheng Sun
- Shengli Oilfield Company, Sinopec, Dongying, 257000, P. R. China
- Research Institute of Petroleum Engineering and Technology, Shengli Oilfield Company, Sinopec, Dongying, 257000, P. R. China
| | - Wei-Dong Wang
- Shengli Oilfield Company, Sinopec, Dongying, 257000, P. R. China
| | - Dan Fei
- State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering and School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Meilong 130, 200237 Shanghai, P. R. China
| | - Bo-Zhong Mu
- State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering and School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Meilong 130, 200237 Shanghai, P. R. China
- Engineering Research Center of Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery, MOE, East China University of Science and Technology, Meilong 130, Shanghai, 200237, P. R. China
| | - Hong-Ze Gang
- State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering and School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Meilong 130, 200237 Shanghai, P. R. China
- Engineering Research Center of Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery, MOE, East China University of Science and Technology, Meilong 130, Shanghai, 200237, P. R. China
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Jiang L, Guo K, Chen Y, Xiang N. Droplet Microfluidics for Current Cancer Research: From Single-Cell Analysis to 3D Cell Culture. ACS Biomater Sci Eng 2024; 10:1335-1354. [PMID: 38420753 DOI: 10.1021/acsbiomaterials.3c01866] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/02/2024]
Abstract
Cancer is the second leading cause of death worldwide. Differences in drug resistance and treatment response caused by the heterogeneity of cancer cells are the primary reasons for poor cancer therapy outcomes in patients. In addition, current in vitro anticancer drug-screening methods rely on two-dimensional monolayer-cultured cancer cells, which cannot accurately predict drug behavior in vivo. Therefore, a powerful tool to study the heterogeneity of cancer cells and produce effective in vitro tumor models is warranted to leverage cancer research. Droplet microfluidics has become a powerful platform for the single-cell analysis of cancer cells and three-dimensional cell culture of in vitro tumor spheroids. In this review, we discuss the use of droplet microfluidics in cancer research. Droplet microfluidic technologies, including single- or double-emulsion droplet generation and passive- or active-droplet manipulation, are concisely discussed. Recent advances in droplet microfluidics for single-cell analysis of cancer cells, circulating tumor cells, and scaffold-free/based 3D cell culture of tumor spheroids have been systematically introduced. Finally, the challenges that must be overcome for the further application of droplet microfluidics in cancer research are discussed.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Lin Jiang
- School of Mechanical Engineering, and Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Design and Manufacture of Micro-Nano Biomedical Instruments, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, China
| | - Kefan Guo
- School of Mechanical Engineering, and Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Design and Manufacture of Micro-Nano Biomedical Instruments, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, China
| | - Yao Chen
- School of Mechanical Engineering, and Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Design and Manufacture of Micro-Nano Biomedical Instruments, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, China
| | - Nan Xiang
- School of Mechanical Engineering, and Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Design and Manufacture of Micro-Nano Biomedical Instruments, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, China
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Deng Y, Zhu C, Fu T, Ma Y. Coalescence dynamics of nanofluid droplets in T-junction microchannel. Chem Eng Sci 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ces.2022.118243] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
|