Microfluidic gradient device for simultaneously preparing four distinct types of microparticles

Effective colloidal emulsion droplet regulation in flow-focusing glass capillary microfluidic device via collection tube variation

Colloidal emulsion droplets, created using glass capillary microfluidic devices, have been found in a myriad of applications, serving as subtle microcarriers, delicate templates, etc. To meet the objective requirements under varying circumstances, it is crucial to efficiently control the morphology and dimensions of the droplets on demand. The glass capillary collection tube is a crucial component of the flow-focusing microfluidic system due to its close association with the geometrical confinement of the multiphasic flow. However, there are currently no guidelines for the design of the morphology and dimensions of the glass capillary collection tube, which shall result in a delay in assessing serviceability until after the microfluidic device is prepared, thereby causing a loss of time and effort. Herein, an experimental study was conducted to investigate the effect of the geometrical characteristics of glass capillary collection tubes on the production of colloidal emulsion droplets. After characterizing the generated colloidal emulsion droplets, it was found that the geometrical variations of the glass capillary collection tube resulted in numerical disparities of droplets due to different degrees of flow-focusing effects. The stronger flow-focusing effect produced smaller droplets at a higher frequency, and the dimensional variation of colloidal emulsion droplets was more responsive to varying flow rates. Furthermore, the transformation from colloidal single-core double-emulsion droplets to multi-core double-emulsion droplets also changed with the flow rate due to the glass capillary collection tube morphology-determined varying flow-focusing effect. These experimental findings can offer qualitative guidance for the design of glass capillary microfluidic devices in the preliminary stage, thus facilitating the smooth production of desired colloidal emulsion droplets.

A Microfluidic Concentration Gradient Maker with Tunable Concentration Profiles by Changing Feed Flow Rate Ratios

Microfluidic chips-in which chemical or biological fluid samples are mixed into linear or nonlinear concentration distribution profiles-have generated enormous enthusiasm of their ability to develop patterns for drug release and their potential toxicology applications. These microfluidic devices have untapped potential for varying concentration patterns by the use of one single device or by easy-to-operate procedures. To address this challenge, we developed a soft-lithography-fabricated microfluidic platform that enabled one single device to be used as a concentration maker, which could generate linear, bell-type, or even S-type concentration profiles by tuning the feed flow rate ratios of each independent inlet. Here, we present an FFRR (feed flow rate ratio) adjustment approach to generate tens of types of concentration gradient profiles with one single device. To demonstrate the advantages of this approach, we used a Christmas-tree-like microfluidic chip as the demo. Its performance was analyzed using numerical simulation models and experimental investigations, and it showed an excellent time response (~10 s). With on-demand flow rate ratios, the FFRR microfluidic device could be used for many lab-on-a-chip applications where flexible concentration profiles are required for analysis.