In-air microfluidics enables rapid fabrication of emulsions, suspensions, and 3D modular (bio)materials.

ABSTRACT: Microfluidic chips provide unparalleled control over droplets and jets, which have advanced all natural sciences. However, microfluidic applications could be vastly expanded by increasing the per-channel throughput and directly exploiting the output of chips for rapid additive manufacturing. We unlock these features with in-air microfluidics, a new chip-free platform to manipulate microscale liquid streams in the air. By controlling the composition and in-air impact of liquid microjets by surface tension-driven encapsulation, we fabricate monodisperse emulsions, particles, and fibers with diameters of 20 to 300 μm at rates that are 10 to 100 times higher than chip-based droplet microfluidics. Furthermore, in-air microfluidics uniquely enables module-based production of three-dimensional (3

SUBMITTER: Visser CW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5792224 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature