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Comparison of Storage Methods for Microfluidically Produced Water‐in‐Oil Droplets
Author(s) -
Grösche Maximilian,
Korvink Jan G.,
Rabe Kersten S.,
Niemeyer Christof M.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
chemical engineering and technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.403
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1521-4125
pISSN - 0930-7516
DOI - 10.1002/ceat.201900075
Subject(s) - coalescence (physics) , microfluidics , oil droplet , materials science , volume (thermodynamics) , fluidics , nanotechnology , chemical engineering , chemistry , emulsion , engineering , thermodynamics , physics , aerospace engineering , astrobiology
Microfluidically produced water‐in‐oil droplets are an important platform for biochemical research. To investigate the structural integrity of droplets during transfer and storage processes, different methods were compared. Storage as isolated droplets inside plastic tubing or a designed microfluidic chamber led to moderate decreases in droplet volume but only slight changes in monodispersity, whereas bulk storage in an Eppendorf cup led to the complete loss of monodispersity. It is further demonstrated that on‐chip storage of the droplets in a fluidic microcavity array avoids coalescence and enables a reduction in volume with the concurrent increase in the concentration of entrapped proteins, which is relevant for applications in life science.