Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 26, 2026
11:03
Particle Templated Emulsification enables Microfluidic-Free Droplet Assays
Published on: March 9, 2021
6.9K
Controlling molecular transport in minimal emulsions.
Philipp Gruner1, Birte Riechers1,2, Benoît Semin1,3
1Max-Planck-Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, Droplets, Membranes and Interfaces, Am Fassberg 17, DE-37077 Goettingen, Germany.
Nature Communications
|January 23, 2016
Summary
Researchers developed
Area of Science:
- Physical Chemistry
- Materials Science
- Chemical Engineering
Background:
- Emulsions are complex metastable dispersions driven by molecular transport.
- Understanding molecular transport mechanisms in emulsions is difficult due to system complexity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate molecular transport in water-in-fluorinated-oil emulsions.
- To utilize 'minimal emulsions' for fundamental studies.
- To provide insights for biotechnological applications.
Main Methods:
- Development of 'minimal emulsions' using microfluidic tools.
- Controlled simplification of emulsion parameters.
- Analysis of small organic molecule transport.
Main Results:
- Established fundamental understanding of molecular transport in minimal emulsions.
- Identified key parameters influencing transport dynamics.
- Demonstrated practical relevance for compartmentalization.
Conclusions:
- Minimal emulsions offer a simplified yet powerful model for studying transport phenomena.
- Findings support sustainable compartmentalization in droplet microreactors.
- Results enable new strategies for dynamic control of droplet compositions.
Related Concept Videos
01:44The Significance of Membrane Transport
44.4K
The transport of solutes across the cell membrane is essential for metabolic processes, like maintaining cell size and volume, generating the action potential, exchanging nutrients and gases, etc. Membrane transport can be either passive or active. It can be simple diffusion, facilitated, or mediated transport aided by transport proteins such as transporters and channels.
Transporters facilitate either an active or passive movement of solutes. They can allow a single-molecule transport down its...
Transporters facilitate either an active or passive movement of solutes. They can allow a single-molecule transport down its...
44.4K
01:24Cellular Membranes and Drug Transport
2.0K
Drugs must traverse multiple biological barriers, such as multi-layered skin, single-layered intestinal epithelium, and the plasma membrane, to reach their target sites within the body. The plasma membrane, a highly structured composite of phospholipids, carbohydrates, and proteins, is the cell's protective boundary, facilitating selective substance exchange.
Phospholipids arrange themselves into a bilayer, with hydrophilic heads oriented outward and hydrophobic tails facing inward.
Phospholipids arrange themselves into a bilayer, with hydrophilic heads oriented outward and hydrophobic tails facing inward.
2.0K
01:16Facilitated Diffusion
1.6K
The plasma membrane, a critical structure in cellular biology, houses an array of transporters, or carrier proteins, interspersed within its lipid bilayer. These proteins play a crucial role in solute transport through facilitated diffusion, a form of passive diffusion that uses transporters to move the molecules across the membrane.
In this process, substrates such as organic compounds and ions interact with a transporter on one side, triggering conformational changes in proteins that enable...
In this process, substrates such as organic compounds and ions interact with a transporter on one side, triggering conformational changes in proteins that enable...
1.6K
01:30Micelles
196
Micelle formation is an intricate process that hinges on the properties of amphiphilic or amphipathic molecules and the conditions of the system in which they are found. Amphiphilic molecules, which have both hydrophilic (water-attracting) and hydrophobic (water-repelling) parts, play a critical role in this process.In aqueous environments, these molecules arrange themselves such that their hydrophilic heads are turned towards the water phase, while their hydrophobic tails are oriented away...
196
01:17Pore Transport and Ion-Pair Transport
1.5K
Pore transport and ion-pair formation are critical mechanisms for the absorption and distribution of drugs in the body.
Pore transport, also known as convective transport, is a process where small molecules like urea, water, and sugars rapidly cross cell membranes as though there were channels or pores in the membrane. Although direct microscopic evidence is limited but the concept of pores or channels is widely accepted based on physiological evidence. Despite the lack of direct...
Pore transport, also known as convective transport, is a process where small molecules like urea, water, and sugars rapidly cross cell membranes as though there were channels or pores in the membrane. Although direct microscopic evidence is limited but the concept of pores or channels is widely accepted based on physiological evidence. Despite the lack of direct...
1.5K
01:20Factors Affecting Dissolution: Drug Permeability, Stability and Stereochemistry
658
Orally administered drugs primarily enter the systemic circulation via passive diffusion through the intestinal membranes. The drug's absorption is influenced by drug stability in the gastrointestinal GI tract, membrane permeability, the surface area available for absorption, luminal drug concentration, and residence time in the lumen. Drug permeability can be enhanced by adjusting the lipophilicity, polarity, or molecular size of the drug, promoting its passive transport across intestinal...
658