Thermocapillary valve for droplet production and sorting

Charles N. Baroud, Jean-Pierre Delville, François Gallaire, and Régis Wunenburger
Phys. Rev. E 75, 046302 – Published 5 April 2007
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Abstract

Droplets are natural candidates for use as microfluidic reactors, if active control of their formation and transport can be achieved. We show here that localized heating from a laser can block the motion of a water-oil interface, acting as a microfluidic valve for two-phase flows. A theoretical model is developed to explain the forces acting on a drop due to thermocapillary flow, predicting a scaling law that favors miniaturization. Finally, we show how the laser forcing can be applied to sorting drops, thus demonstrating how it may be integrated in complex droplet microfluidic systems.

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  • Received 27 July 2006

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.75.046302

©2007 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Charles N. Baroud1,*, Jean-Pierre Delville2,†, François Gallaire3, and Régis Wunenburger2

  • 1LadHyX and Department of Mechanics, Ecole Polytechnique, F-91128 Palaiseau cedex, France
  • 2CPMOH, UMR CNRS 5798, Université Bordeaux 1, 351 Cours de la Libération, F-33405 Talence cedex, France
  • 3Laboratoire J.A. Dieudonné, Université de Nice Sophia-Antipolis, 06108 Nice cedex, France

  • *Electronic address: baroud@ladhyx.polytechnique.fr
  • Electronic address: jp.delville@cpmoh.u-bordeaux1.fr

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Issue

Vol. 75, Iss. 4 — April 2007

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