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Microfluidics application note

How to generate droplets inside a microfluidic capillary

SET-UP TIME : 10-15 MIN / DIFFICULTY : *****

This application note describes:

  • How to generate controlled size millifluidic droplets in microfluidic capillary

 

  • Two generation methods by pressure or flow rate regulation.

It has been realized at the millifluidic scale. Chromatographic Teflon T-junction and capillary tubing are used as channels of the device. To generate droplets in a microfluidic capillary, the following features are key:

  • Real-time droplets size modification
  • Real-time modification of the generation frequency
  • High reproducibility 
  • Highly monodisperse droplets

The flow rate was finely controlled with the OB1 MkIII pressure-driven flow controller. The piezoelectric technology used to perform pressure regulation allows great flow accuracy &  ms response time.

Droplet generation is employed for many application from as emulsion production, single cell analysis, drug delivery, to polymer beads or nanoparticles synthesis.

To discover more tips and tricks about droplets generation in a microfluidic capillary, please check our droplet Userguide!

Protocol & Setup for droplet generation in a microfluidic capillary

The following illustrates the complete chain of the elements involved in this application note. You will need to assemble all these parts to set up your experiment and generate controlled size droplets while using the Elveflow® smart interface.

COMPONENTS LIST

Pressure-driven flow controlled microfluidics?

Here is a short video presenting the working principle of Elveflow piezoelectric technology employed to perform pressure-driven microfluidic flow control for your experiment!

Pressure monitoring

microfluidic millifluidic droplet generation

A) Monitoring the pressure to generate controlled size droplets:

The Elveflow® smart interface allows to control pressure for the oil and water samples.

One can also program sequences in order to generate droplet streams, oil plugs of controlled sized etc.

Flow rate monitoring

microfluidic millifluidic droplet generation t junction

B) Monitoring the flow rate to generate controlled size droplets:

When coupled with Flow Sensors our controller enables to control the flow rate thanks to a PID feedback loop. One can request the flow values in the Elveflow® smart interface and the pressure controller will adjust the pressure consequently to reach the requested values.

Congratulations! You’ve achieved the generation of controlled-size droplets in a microfluidic capillary using an Elveflow® Flow sensor and the Elveflow® pressure control instrument!

Want to run a similar experiment? Feel free to contact us at: contact@elveflow.com
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