Generation and manipulation of oil-in-water micro-droplets by confined thermocapillary microvortices

Optofluidic manipulation of droplets is critical in droplet-based microfluidic systems for chemistry, biology, and medicine. Here, we reported a thermocapillary microvortices-based manipulation platform for controlling oil-in-water droplets through integrating a photothermal waveguide into a microfluidic chip. The sizes and shapes of the droplets can be controlled by adjusting optical power or positions of the water-oil interface. Here, teardrop-shaped droplets, which can encapsulate and accumulate mesoscopic matters easily, were generated when the water-oil interface and the channel boundaries approached the photothermal waveguide center simultaneously. The results showed that the thermocapillary microvortices have good controllability of droplet positions, droplet volumes, and encapsulated-particle distribution and thus it will be a powerful droplet manipulation strategy for microreactors and microcapsules.