Download - BioMEMS Project Presentation
Team Four
The Bubbler• Three types• Creates bubbles
from immiscible liquids.
• Various flow rates to control the size of formed bubbles.
http://cdn.iopscience.com/images/0295-5075/94/6/64001/Full/epl13558fig1.jpg
Bubbles and Medicine • Bubbles as a drug delivery
device• Tumor targeting drugs can be
encapsulated in bubbles• Bubbles can be fragmented to
release drug (shown right).
• Bubbles can become trapped in vascular structures
• Delivery of drugs to occluded vessels
Postema, M., Schimtz, G. (2007)
The innovation of LoC bubble makers• Possible to achieve precise
bubble shapes• Nanofabrication allows small
bubbles to be formed• Nano-range bubbles have a
high surface area to volume ratio
• Ideal of drug delivery
• Easy to model the behavior at the microfluidic level
https://pubs.acs.org/cen/multimedia/85/academe/full/6.jpg
This is the basic bubbler design, taken from Garstecki et al. 2006
Objectives• Build a T-junction bubbler with varied channel widths.• Visualize the mechanics of bubble formation• Draw conclusions about the efficacy of our design and methods
Design• The interface between continuous and inlet phases with various
width (w) from a top view. • Qc: continuous phase flow. • Qd: dispersed phase flow
c
d
Design• Cross section showing the dimensions of a channel of height (h) and
width (w).
Design and Fabrication• We decided to test
conditions with various continuous channel widths:
• (1) 50um• (2) 100um• (3) 150um• (4) 200 um
• In all groups: • h = 50um • Wd = 50um.
Design and Fabrication• A close up of the 100um
channel design• Ports allow for the
injection of water and oil, as well as the collection of mixed products.
• The widened section allows the flow to slow so bubbles can be visualized.
Device Gauge
Fabrication• Photolithography:
• Used mask to expose SU-8 coated wafer (50um thickness).• Deposited PDMS, to imprint channels. • Peeled off and used Plasma cleaner to adhere to glass slides.
• Challenges in fabrication:• Gauge didn’t print on mask• Particles and bubbles in Su-8• Exposure times (channel washed off with developer)• Delamination of SU-8 with PDMS peel• Poor adhesion after plasma
Devices produced
A fabricated bubbler device with 100um continuous channel width
Devices – Setup for Testing• Ported for injection, and superglued in place.• Food dye added to water for visualization. Loaded into syringe. • Microinjection apparatus for controlled delivery of water and oil to devices.
Testing methods• Each device was tested for various
flow rates. • The T-junction was visualized to
monitor bubble formation. • Calculations for flow rate
• Capillary number• Shear and pressure driven flow
Figure 5- Vc = velocity of bubble’s neck constriction of continuous phase Vd=velocity of bubble’s elongation before complete neck constriction of dispersion phase Qc= flow rate of continuous phase Qd= flow rate of dispersion phase h= height of channel w= width of channel
Figure 6 - (left) shows the combination of previous figures equations and then the dimensionless reorganization (right). The final length of the bubble is equal to the sum of the initial length at entry (before filling) and the length accumulated during elongation until breakage.
Figure 5- Vc = velocity of bubble’s neck constriction of continuous phase Vd=velocity of bubble’s elongation before complete neck constriction of dispersion phase Qc= flow rate of continuous phase Qd= flow rate of dispersion phase h= height of channel w= width of channel
Figure 6 - (left) shows the combination of previous figures equations and then the dimensionless reorganization (right). The final length of the bubble is equal to the sum of the initial length at entry (before filling) and the length accumulated during elongation until breakage.
Capillary Number
𝐶𝑎=𝜇𝑉𝛾
Determining Flow Rate
Taken from: P. Garstecki et al. 2006
Hypotheses• Test three hypotheses:
• “Can we create liquid droplets of uniform size between two immiscible liquids at a “T” shape junction of a continuous flow channel and a disperse channel?”
• “How does changing the flow rates between the continuous and dispense channel affect the properties of the droplets formed?”
• “How does changing the channel widths of the continuous flow channel affect the properties of the droplets formed?”
Challenges• Poor flow in channels • PDMS and super glue particles clog tubes• Elasticity in pipes
Conclusions and Future Directions• Hypothesis testing:
• 1st: created bubbles with our devices• 2nd and 3rd: unable to fully test these due to device errors
• Future Directions:• Try experiments with less elastic tubing• Use PDMS to adhere ports instead of glue
References • M. L. J. Steegmans et al., “Characterization of emulsification at flat microchannel Y junctions,”
Langmuir, vol. 35, pp. 3396-3401, Feb. 2009.
• “Microfluidic droplet generators,” Micronit MicroFluidics, Enschede., The Netherlands.
• P. Garstecki et al., “Formation of droplets and bubbles in a microfluidic T-junction – scaling and mechanism of break-up,” Lab Chip, vol. 6, pp. 437-446, Jan. 2006.
• What is digital microfluidics? [Web.] Available: http://www.elveflow.com/microfluidic-tutorials/microfluidic-reviews- and-tutorials/what- is-digital- microfluidic/
• M. DE MENECH, P. GARSTECKI, F. JOUSSE and H. STONE. Transition from squeezing to dripping in a microfluidic T-shaped junction, J. Fluid Mech., vol. 595, 2008.