Production of monodisperse water-in-oil emulsions consisting of highly uniform droplets using asymmetric straight-through microchannel arrays

This paper reports the production of monodisperse water-in-oil (W/O) emulsions using new microchannel emulsification (MCE) devices, asymmetric straight-through MC arrays that were hydrophobically modified. The silicon asymmetric straight-through MC arrays consisted of numerous pairs of microslots and circular microholes whose cross-sectional sizes were 10 μm. This paper primarily focused on investigating the effect of the osmotic pressure of a dispersed phase (Π_d) on MCE. This paper also investigated the effects of the type of continuous-phase oils and the dispersed-phase flux (J _d) on MCE. The dispersed phases were Milli-Q water and Milli-Q water solutions containing sodium chloride. The continuous phases were decane (as control), hexane, medium chain triacylglyceride (MCT), and refined soybean oil (RSO) solutions containing tetraglycerin monolaurate condensed ricinoleic acid ester (TGCR) as a surfactant. At Π_d of exceeding threshold, highly uniform aqueous droplets with coefficients of variation of less than 3% were stably generated via hydrophobic asymmetric straight-through MCs. Monodisperse W/O emulsions with average droplet diameters between 32 and 45 μm were produced using the alkane–oil and triglyceride–oil solutions as the continuous phase. This work also demonstrated that the hydrophobic asymmetric straight-through MC array had remarkable ability to produce highly uniform aqueous droplets at very high J _d of up to 1,200 L m⁻² h⁻¹.     

A Y-channel design for improving zeta potential and surface conductivity measurements using the current monitoring method

This study presents a new Y-channel design for measuring the zeta potential and surface conductance of a solid-liquid pairing using the current monitoring technique. The new design improves the throughput and reliability of the testing apparatus since the displacement between two solutions can be repeated many times without interfering with the experiments. It also increases the accuracy of the measurement by producing sharper start and end transitions for the current–time plot of the solution displacement process. In this design, efforts have been made to minimize the effects of electrolysis, Joule heating and undesired pressure driven flow on the measurements. An improvement on the current–time slope analysis is also presented. The Y-channel design was validated by comparing zeta potential measurements to published results. The zeta potential of several biological buffers relevant to the microfluidic community in plasma treated PDMS/PDMS and PDMS/Glass microchannels are presented. Preliminary studies of surface conductivity measurements using the Y-channel design were also conducted and are briefly discussed.     

超快激光制备PMMA微流道机理及工艺研究

由于传统加工方法不能解决PMMA微流道的加工质量不好和效率低的问题,本文对超快激光直写PMMA制备微流道的烧蚀机理和工艺参数进行了研究。根据实验分析不同的激光功率、加工速度和加工次数对微流道的宽度和横截面的影响规律,利用超快激光加工系统制备微流道,并采用超景深三维显微镜观测微流道的表面形貌。实验结果表明,当超快激光的加工速度为20 mm/s时,激光功率为1.5 W时,制备的微流道的宽度较小、宽度趋势比较平稳;当超快激光作用PMMA的次数一样,由于加工速度逐渐增加,制备的微流道其宽度和激光的加工速度保持线性增加。当加工速度越大时,微流道的宽度较小、且壁面趋势相对平缓,而当加工速度一定,超快激光的输出功率在1.5 W时,微流道内壁区域不易出现残渣堆积和气泡隆起现象。本文通过优化超快激光加工系统的工艺参数,从而加工出尺寸精度高、表面光滑、宽度为20~90 μm的微流道芯片。     

Straight-through microchannel devices for generating monodisperse emulsion droplets several microns in size

The authors recently proposed a promising technique for producing monodisperse emulsions using a straight-through microchannel (MC) device composed of an array of microfabricated oblong holes. This research developed new straight-through MC devices with tens of thousands of oblong channels of several microns in size on a silicon-on-insulator plate, and investigated the emulsification characteristics using the microfabricated straight-through MC devices. Monodisperse oil-in-water (O/W) and W/O emulsions with average droplet diameters of 4.4–9.8 μm and coefficients of variation of less than 6% were stably produced using surface-treated straight-through MC devices that included uniformly sized oblong channels with equivalent diameters of 1.7–5.4 μm. The droplet size of the resultant emulsions depended greatly on the size of the preceding oblong channels. The emulsification process using the straight-through MC devices developed in this research had very high apparent energy efficiencies of 47–60%, defined as (actual energy input applied to droplet generation/theoretical minimum energy input necessary for making droplets) × 100. Straight-through MC devices with numerous oblong microfluidic channels also have great potential for increasing the productivity of monodisperse fine emulsions.     

制冷剂在微流道内单相流动的阻力与换热特性

对典型制冷剂R12在微流道中的单相流动阻力特性和换热特性进行了实验研究．实验结果表明,微流道中的流动力及换热特性与常规尺度流道中的有很大差异．层流的阻力系数高于常规尺度流道中的阻力系数,流态由层流向紊流过渡的临界雷诺数也比常规尺度流道减小．     

Numerical investigation of hydrodynamic and heat transfer performances of nanofluids in a fractal microchannel heat sink

Heat transfer and hydrodynamic performances for nanofluids, Al₂O₃‐water and SiO₂‐water, are numerically investigated with different nanoparticles’ volume fractions and the initial velocities in a fractal microchannel heat sink. The fractal microchannel is 100 μm × 100 μm in the inlet cross‐section, and the length at the 0th level is 2000 μm. A constant heat flux of 500 kW/m² was applied to the bottom wall of the fractal microchannel heat sink. The heat transfer and hydrodynamic performances of different cases are discussed in terms of the mean heat transfer coefficient, mean base temperature, pressure loss, thermal resistance, friction factor f/f₀, and COP/COP₀. Results indicate that increasing the initial velocity and nanoparticles’ volume fraction lead to an enhanced heat transfer at the expense of pressure loss. Al₂O₃‐water has a higher mean heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop than that of SiO₂‐water, a lower f/f₀, mean base temperature, thermal resistance, and COP/COP₀. Ultimately, as compared to pure water, the heat transfer coefficients of 4% Al₂O₃‐water increased by 7.53%, 7.80%, 8.00%, 8.14%, 8.16%, and 8.30%, and the pressure drops increased by 32.09%, 31.41%, 30.81%, 30.05%, 29.21%, and 28.58%, respectively, corresponding to the initial velocities by 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 m/s.     

微通道内气-液两相传质过程行为及其应用

微通道内气-液两相体系中Taylor流和泡状流具有气泡尺寸均一、停留时间分布窄、可调控性强和比表面积高等优点,具有广泛的应用前景。从Taylor气泡和泡状气泡的传质过程出发,系统综述了微尺度下气泡的溶解规律、传质过程机理和传质/溶解模型等方面的研究进展,并介绍上述流型在反应或过程强化、基础物性及动力学数据测量和微纳材料合成方面的应用。最后总结并展望了技术领域的研究难点与研究方向。     

阳极氧化铝微通道板研究的进展

微通道板(Microchannel Plates,MCP)是一种先进的电子倍增器件,在微光夜视等多个领域有着广泛的应用。传统铅硅酸盐玻璃微通道板(Lead Silicate Glass Microchannel Plates,LSG-MCP)越来越不能满足小孔径、高分辨率、环境友好等方面的要求,寻求替代产品成为研究热点。详细介绍了一种新型微通道板——阳极氧化铝微通道板(Anodic Aluminum Oxide Microchannel Plates,AAO-MCP)的研究进展,包括多孔AAO的特点、微通道的形成、功能层的制备、计算机模拟等。AAO-MCP具有孔径小、面积大、耐强磁场、工作温度范围宽等特点,应用前景广阔。最后分析了AAO-MCP存在的问题以及未来发展方向。     

微通道反应器中催化裂解合成N,N-二甲基丙烯酰胺新工艺研究

N,N-二甲基丙烯酰胺(DMAA)是一种具有广泛开发应用前景的精细化工原料,在石油开采、纤维塑料改性、精细化工、生命科学等领域有广阔应用前景.研究了微通道反应器中以3-(N,N-二甲氨基)-N,N-二甲基丙酰胺(DMDA)为原料、四丁基溴化铵(TBAB)为催化剂合成DMAA的催化裂解新工艺.考察了催化剂用量、体积流速、反应温度对DMDA单程转化率的影响.优化选择了较优工艺参数组合:催化剂用量m(TBAB):m(DMDA)为O.02,体积流速O.24mL·min-1,反应温度270℃,DMDA单程转化率达17.O%,时空转化率(STC)达2.36×109mol·m-3·h-1.微通道反应器中时空收率是常规反应器的1500倍.     

在T型微通道内制备固体脂质纳米粒(SLN)的实验研究

研究了一种用T型微通道制备固体脂质纳米粒(solid lipid nanoparticles,SLN)的新方法.以softisan100(C_(10)～C_(18)的混合脂)丙酮溶液作为脂相,以Poloxamer 188水溶液为水相,用注射泵分别将脂相和水相注入T型通道的主道和支道内,两相在交叉口接触后形成明显的相界面,并继续沿主道向前流动.脂相中丙酮通过相界面迅速向水相扩散,随着流体的向前运动,脂相中脂的浓度不断增大至过饱和而形成固体脂质纳米粒(SLN).实验考察了两相流速和微通道尺寸对SLN粒径大小和粒径分布的影响.结果表明:在实验条件下,制得的SLN粒径在110～350 nm之间,多分散性指数小于0.24;T型通道交叉口的流场分布受两相相对流速的影响,并直接影响成粒规律,在不出现两相返混条件下,保持水相流速不变,SLN粒径随脂相流速增大而增大;保持脂相流速不变,粒径随水相流速的增大略有增大;通道尺寸越小所制得粒径也越小.