Solvent Shifting Approach for Droplet Generation in a Microfluidic Device

A novel approach for microfluidic droplet generation via “solvent shifting” is presented in this paper based on an experimental investigation. In a 3D co-flow configuration with a jet of ethanol/oil mixture surrounded by water flow, the lateral diffusion leads to supersaturation followed by a phase separation and consequently formation of oil nanodroplets. Due to the solutal Marangoni effect the nanodroplets migrate inward and they get collected at the channel centerline. For high concentrations of the oil the density of the nanodroplets is so high that they can merge and produce microdroplets. If the mixture contains 10% oil, the average diameter of the produced microdroplets is within the range 10-30 µm for various jet flow rates. The size of microdroplets increases with the flow rate of the jet. Overall, for the first time we show that it is practical to generate microdroplets of different sizes by solvent shifting approach in a microfluidic setup.