Designer emulsions using microfluidics

作者：Rhutesh K. Shah, Ho Cheung Shum, Amy C. Rowat, Daeyeon Lee, Jeremy J. Agresti, Andrew S. Utada, Liang‐Yin Chu, Jin Woong Kim, Alberto Fernández‐Nieves, Carlos J. Martinez, David A. Weitz · 发表于：Materials Today · 年份：2008 · DOI：10.1016/s1369-7021(08)70053-1 · 被引用次数：760 · 研究领域：Innovative Microfluidic and Catalytic Techniques Innovation、Electrowetting and Microfluidic Technologies、Microfluidic and Capillary Electrophoresis Applications

We describe new developments for the controlled fabrication of monodisperse emulsions using microfluidics. We use glass capillary devices to generate single, double, and higher order emulsions with exceptional precision. These emulsions can serve as ideal templates for generating well-defined particles and functional vesicles. Polydimethylsiloxane microfluidic devices are also used to generate picoliter-scale water-in-oil emulsions at rates as high as 10 000 drops per second. These emulsions have great potential as individual microvessels in high-throughput screening applications, where each drop serves to encapsulate single cells, genes, or reactants.