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Reconfigurable All-Oil Microfluidic Devices by 3D Printing.
Weixiao Feng1, Yunhui Wen1, Shuyi Sun1
1State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, China.
Small (Weinheim an Der Bergstrasse, Germany)
|August 8, 2024
Summary
Newly developed molecular brush surfactants (MBSs) enable the creation of advanced all-oil microfluidic devices. These devices, utilizing oil-oil systems, offer new possibilities for mass transmission and chemical separation.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Fluid Dynamics
- Chemical Engineering
Background:
- Nanoparticle surfactants are common in oil-water systems.
- Non-aqueous systems, like oil-oil, lack suitable surfactants for structured liquid creation.
- Molecular brush surfactants (MBSs) are newly developed for oil-oil interfaces.
Purpose of the Study:
- To report the construction of all-oil microfluidic devices using MBSs.
- To demonstrate advanced functions of these all-oil devices.
- To explore applications in mass transmission, chemical separation, and material synthesis.
Main Methods:
- Development of novel molecular brush surfactants (MBSs).
- Formation of MBSs at the DMSO-silicone oil interface.
- Utilizing 3D printing techniques for device construction.
Main Results:
- Complete suppression of Plateau-Rayleigh instabilities in liquid jets.
- Production of stable liquid threads with jammed MBSs at the interface.
- Construction of complex-structured, all-oil microfluidic devices.
Conclusions:
- MBSs are effective in creating stable liquid threads in oil-oil systems.
- All-oil microfluidic devices can be fabricated with complex architectures.
- These devices show significant potential for various industrial applications.
