Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 21, 2026

Plasmid Stability Analysis with Open-Source Droplet Microfluidics
Published on: December 27, 2024
Self-Similar Relaxation of Confined Microfluidic Droplets
Margaux Kerdraon1, Joshua D McGraw1, Benjamin Dollet2
1Gulliver CNRS UMR 7083, PSL Research University, ESPCI Paris, 10 rue Vauquelin, 75005 Paris, France.
Abstract:
We report an experimental study concerning the capillary relaxation of a confined liquid droplet in a microscopic channel with a rectangular cross section. The confinement leads to a droplet that is extended along the direction normal to the cross section. These droplets, found in numerous microfluidic applications, are pinched into a peanutlike shape thanks to a localized, reversible deformation of the channel. Once the channel deformation is released, the droplet relaxes back to a pluglike shape. During this relaxation, the liquid contained in the central pocket drains towards the extremities of the droplet. Modeling such viscocapillary droplet relaxation requires considering the problem as 3D due to confinement. This 3D consideration yields a scaling model incorporating dominant dissipation within the droplet menisci. As such, the self-similar droplet dynamics is fully captured.
Related Concept Videos
Relaxation of Skeletal Muscles
When an action potential reaches the axon terminal, it depolarizes the membrane and opens voltage-gated sodium channels. Sodium ions enter the cell, further depolarizing the presynaptic membrane. This depolarization causes voltage-gated calcium channels to open....
Classification of Skeletal Muscle Relaxants
Peripherally acting skeletal muscle relaxants interfere with the neurotransmission at the neuromuscular end plate to induce paralysis during...
Skeletal Muscle Relaxants: Therapeutic Uses
Skeletal Muscle Relaxants: Adverse Effects
Unlike...
Centrally Acting Muscle Relaxants: Therapeutic Uses
Centrally acting drugs are classified into spasmolytic and antispasmodic drugs. Spasmolytic drugs such as baclofen, diazepam, and tizanidine inhibit spinal motor neurons and decrease muscle tone. Spasmolytic drugs are administered for severe and chronic spasms due to multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, stroke, and spinal cord and muscle injuries. However,...
Atomic Nuclei: Types of Nuclear Relaxation
In spin–lattice or longitudinal relaxation, the excited spins exchange energy with the surrounding lattice as they return to the lower energy level. Among several mechanisms that contribute to spin–lattice relaxation, magnetic dipolar interactions are significant. Here, the excited nucleus transfers...

