(35e) Parallel Multiple Droplet Generators

Droplets obtained by microfluidic emulsification find applications in the continuous synthesis of polymer and inorganic colloids. The productivity of microfluidic synthesis depends on the ability to scale up the production of droplets by conducting emulsification in parallel droplet generators. This paper describes the design of a multiple microfluidic droplet generator containing four parallel flow-focusing devices (FFDs), two inlets and a single outlet. Using FFDs with an identical design we scaled up the production of droplets and examined the variation in their size distribution, in comparison with droplets formed in a single droplet generator. We used selective in-situ functionalization of the microchannels to conduct fast throughput screening of the effects of surface energy of the channels on the formation of droplets. Using FFDs with distinct geometries we simultaneously generated droplets with different volumes. This result can be useful in the study of the effect of droplet size on polymerization reactions. The results of this work can be used in parallelization of the production of droplets and in fast throughput screening of the effect of droplet generation, such as surface chemistry in microfluidic emulsification.