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Updated: Jun 5, 2026
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Fabrication of Polymer Microspheres for Optical Resonator and Laser Applications
Published on: June 2, 2017
Microfluidic Confinement for Constructing Chiral Helical Polyacetylene-Based Monodispersed Circularly Polarized
Yiran Li1, Xiaobin Gao1, Yucheng Luan2
1Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China.
ACS Macro Letters
|June 4, 2026
Summary
Researchers developed a microfluidic method for creating uniform, circularly polarized luminescent (CPL) microspheres from chiral polyacetylene. This technique allows precise control over size and morphology for advanced chiroptical applications.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Nanotechnology
- Optics
Background:
- Circularly polarized luminescent (CPL) microspheres are gaining interest for their chiroptical properties.
- Controlled fabrication of CPL microspheres with uniform size and morphology is challenging.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a microfluidic strategy for precise preparation of CPL-active microspheres.
- To establish a theoretical model for droplet formation and control microsphere size.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a microfluidic confinement strategy with chiral helical polyacetylene.
- Developed and validated a theoretical model for two-stage droplet formation.
- Employed microfluidic simulations and systematic experiments.
- Used a water-in-oil-in-water microfluidic chip for core-shell structures.
Main Results:
- Precisely tuned microdroplet diameter by adjusting polyacetylene concentration and flow rate.
- Successfully fabricated chiral fluorescent microspheres with diameters from 4.85 to 13.37 μm.
- Achieved core-shell microspheres with mononuclear-monoshell and multinuclear-monoshell architectures.
- Obtained microspheres with uniform fluorescence, stable chiroptical activity, and high CPL performance (luminescence dissymmetry factor up to 0.025).
Conclusions:
- The microfluidic strategy offers a robust and versatile platform for controlled fabrication of CPL microspheres.
- Tunable size and morphology of CPL microspheres are achievable.
- This work advances the development of materials with tailored chiroptical properties.
