Negative Pressure Induced Droplet Generation in a Microfluidic Flow-Focusing Device

Authors

Adrian Teo, Griffith University
King-Ho Holden Li, Nanyang Technological University
Nam-Trung Nguyen, Griffith UniversityFollow
Wei Guo, Griffith University
Nadine Heere, Griffith University
Heng Xi, Northwestern Polytechnical UniversityFollow
Chia Tsao, National Central University
Weihua Li, University of WollongongFollow
Say H. Tan, Griffith University

RIS ID

114723

Publication Details

Teo, A. J. T., Li, K., Nguyen, N., Guo, W., Heere, N., Xi, H., Tsao, C., Li, W. & Tan, S. H. (2017). Negative Pressure Induced Droplet Generation in a Microfluidic Flow-Focusing Device. Analytical Chemistry, 89 (8), 4387-4391.

Abstract

We introduce an effective method to actively induce droplet generation using negative pressure. Droplets can be generated on demand using a series of periodic negative pressure pulses. Fluidic network models were developed using the analogy to electric networks to relate the pressure conditions for different flow regimes. Experimental results show that the droplet volume is correlated to the pressure ratio with a power law of 1.3. Using a pulsed negative pressure at the outlet, we are able to produce droplets in demand and with a volume proportional to the pulse width.