| Info. | Vol.2 - No.1 (2008.03.20) |
|---|---|
| Title | Investigation of Microchannel Wettability on the Formation of Droplets and Efficient Mixing in Microfluidic Devices |
| Authors | Chang-Hyung Choi>,1, Naveen Prasad1, Nae-Rym Lee>,1 & Chang-Soo Lee1 |
| Institutions | 1Department of Chemical Engineering, Chungnam National University, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-764, Korea Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to C.-S. Lee (rhadum@cnu.ac.kr) |
| Abstract | This study is an experimental investigation of a microfluidic method for the formation of droplets and mixing efficiency in continuous microfluidic channels. Droplet size strongly depends on the total aqueous flow rate under a fixed oil flow rate. In the case of different wetting properties, a hydrophobically homogeneous microfluidic channel produces smaller droplets than that of a heterogeneous microfluidic channel b ecause of the different wettability of the formed aqueous droplets. However, high mixing efficiency in the two types of microfluidic channel is achieved by droplet recirculation. Although an increase in droplet size demands a longer mixing time, the microfluidic approach provides rapid mixing and no reagent dispersion. This mixing method in microfluidics can be applied to a variety of chemical syntheses or biochemical reactions at the nanoliter scale. |
| Keyword | Keywords: Microfluidics, Droplets, Mixing, Dispersion |
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