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Updated: Jun 25, 2026

Generation of Size-controlled Poly (ethylene Glycol) Diacrylate Droplets via Semi-3-Dimensional Flow Focusing Microfluidic Devices
Published on: July 3, 2018
Homogenization of a phase-separated droplet in a polymer mixture caused by the dielectric effect of a laser
Hirofumi Toyama1, Kenichi Yoshikawa, Hiroyuki Kitahata
1Department of Physics, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan.
Abstract:
It is found that a micrometer-sized droplet in an aqueous solution of binary polymers [water/polyethylene-glycol (PEG)/dextran] disappears upon irradiation with a focused yttrium-aluminum-garnet laser. The interface of the dextran-rich droplet broadens and disappears, and it reappears upon turning the laser off, whereas the PEG-rich droplet shrinks and disappears. These phenomena are discussed in terms of the free energy by considering the laser-induced dielectric potential.

