Formation of monodisperse bubbles in a microfluidic flow-focusing device

Abstract

This letter describes a method for generating monodisperse gaseous bubbles in a microfluidic flow-focusing device. The bubbles can be obtained in a range of diameters from 10 to 1000μm. The volume Vb of the bubbles scales with the flow rate q and the viscosity μ of the liquid, and the pressure p of the gas stream as Vb∝p∕qμ. This method allows simultaneous, independent control of the size of the individual bubbles and volume fraction of the dispersed phase. Under appropriate conditions, bubbles self-assemble into highly ordered, flowing lattices. Structures of these lattices can be adjusted dynamically by changing the flow parameters.