Monodispersed water-in-oil emulsions prepared with semi-metal microfluidic EDGE systems

• Published in: Microfluidics and nanofluidics 2013, Vol.14 (1-2), p.187-196
• Main Authors: Maan, Abid Aslam, Schroën, Karin, Boom, Remko
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Analytical Chemistry; Applied fluid mechanics; Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering; Chemistry; Colloidal state and disperse state; Copper; devices; droplet formation; Droplets; Emulsification; Emulsions; Emulsions. Microemulsions. Foams; Engineering; Engineering Fluid Dynamics; Exact sciences and technology; Fluid dynamics; Fluidics; Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications); General and physical chemistry; Lecithin; microcapsules; microchannel emulsification; Microfluidics; Nanostructure; Nanotechnology and Microengineering; Physics; premix membrane emulsification; Research Paper; Sunflower oil; Viscosity
• ISSN: 1613-4982; 1613-4990
• DOI: 10.1007/s10404-012-1037-0

Monodispersed water-in-oil emulsions were prepared with EDGE ( E dge based D roplet GE neration) systems, which generate many droplets simultaneously from one junction. The devices (with plateau height of 1.0 μm) were coated with Cu and CuNi having the same hydrophobicity but different surface roughness. Emulsification was performed by using water as dispersed phase and oils with different viscosities (hexadecane, decane, hexane and sunflower oil) as continuous phases; lecithin, polyglycerol polyricinoleate (PGPR) and span80 were used as emulsifiers. The roughness affected the emulsification behaviour significantly. The smoother Cu surface exhibited droplet formation over the entire length of the droplet formation unit, while the rougher CuNi surface showed non-uniform filling of the plateau and much lower droplet formation frequency. In spite of this different behaviour, monodispersed droplets (CV