Magic droplets from capillary microfluidic system

Abstract

Droplets of nanoliter and subnanoliter are useful in a wide range of applications, particularly when their size is uniform and controllable. Examples include biochemistry, biomedical engineering, chemical engineering, food industry, pharmaceuticals, emulsions, material sciences, microelectronics, lab-on-a-chip, microfluidic chips, micro mixers, micropower generation, microreactors and micro total analysis systems (µTAS). One example of their many fundamental medical applications is the therapeutic delivery system for delivering site-specific therapy to targeted organs in the body and as the carriers for newer therapeutic options. The size, the size distribution and the effective manipulation of droplets at a scale of nano, pico and even femto liters are critical in all these applications. We show the 'magic' of the capillary microfluidic system in generating and manipulating droplets at a nano-/subnano- scale and their applications in nanofluid’s synthesis, physics, materials and biomedical fields.