TY - JOUR
T1 - Thermocapillary valve for droplet production and sorting
AU - Baroud, Charles N.
AU - Delville, Jean Pierre
AU - Gallaire, François
AU - Wunenburger, Régis
PY - 2007/4/5
Y1 - 2007/4/5
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
U2 - 10.1103/PhysRevE.75.046302
DO - 10.1103/PhysRevE.75.046302
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:34147130149
SN - 1539-3755
VL - 75
JO - Physical Review E - Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics
JF - Physical Review E - Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics
IS - 4
M1 - 046302
ER -