On-demand microfluidic droplet pinching and splitting under local confinement gradients

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Hauptverfasser: Kerdraon, Margaux, Théry, Albane, Pascual, Marc, Descroix, Stéphanie, Jullien, Marie-Caroline
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2024
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author Kerdraon, Margaux
Théry, Albane
Pascual, Marc
Descroix, Stéphanie
Jullien, Marie-Caroline
author_facet Kerdraon, Margaux
Théry, Albane
Pascual, Marc
Descroix, Stéphanie
Jullien, Marie-Caroline
contents We report the pinching of an elongated liquid droplet that is confined in a rectangular microchannel. The droplet pinching is induced by a local variation of the channel topography and can lead to its break-up. The modification of the channel topography is either induced by a reversible local dilation of the channel bottom wall or by a confinement gradient that is irreversibly modelled in the channel. Interestingly, in both cases, a few micrometres contraction of the channel height leads to the pinching of the droplet in the direction of the channel width. If this pinching is such that the droplet is no longer confined at the level of its deformation, {\it i.e.} the liquid thread becomes 3D, the droplet splits in two. By minimizing the surface energy of the droplet under the channel confinement gradient, we are able to predict its pinching or its break-up, if any. The dynamic of the droplet deformation is then captured by a semi-analytical model, assuming that most of the viscous dissipation is located in the gutters at the four corners of the channel. Conversely, we show that this kinetic model can be used to extract the average topographic variation of the channel, down to few micrometers, by measuring the droplet pinching dynamics under a classical optical microscope.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2410_23538
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle On-demand microfluidic droplet pinching and splitting under local confinement gradients
Kerdraon, Margaux
Théry, Albane
Pascual, Marc
Descroix, Stéphanie
Jullien, Marie-Caroline
Fluid Dynamics
We report the pinching of an elongated liquid droplet that is confined in a rectangular microchannel. The droplet pinching is induced by a local variation of the channel topography and can lead to its break-up. The modification of the channel topography is either induced by a reversible local dilation of the channel bottom wall or by a confinement gradient that is irreversibly modelled in the channel. Interestingly, in both cases, a few micrometres contraction of the channel height leads to the pinching of the droplet in the direction of the channel width. If this pinching is such that the droplet is no longer confined at the level of its deformation, {\it i.e.} the liquid thread becomes 3D, the droplet splits in two. By minimizing the surface energy of the droplet under the channel confinement gradient, we are able to predict its pinching or its break-up, if any. The dynamic of the droplet deformation is then captured by a semi-analytical model, assuming that most of the viscous dissipation is located in the gutters at the four corners of the channel. Conversely, we show that this kinetic model can be used to extract the average topographic variation of the channel, down to few micrometers, by measuring the droplet pinching dynamics under a classical optical microscope.
title On-demand microfluidic droplet pinching and splitting under local confinement gradients
topic Fluid Dynamics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.23538