In previous work, I have been able to produce stable droplets with a diameter of cca. 20 - 40 um using PBS as a dispersed phase and hexadecane with 4 w/v % SPAN80 on a commercial microfluidic chip.
Right now I'm attempting to produce larger droplets on a "home-made" chip, with a size range of 200 to 400 um in diameter. Large droplets are needed, so I will be able to detect its composition using a home made absorbance reader. I want to use the same chemicals as before (that is PBS and Hexadecane mixed with SPAN). I have tried working with 0.1%, 1%, 4%, and 10% SPAN in hexadecane, but nothing has worked out so far. Emulsion of drops separated in two liquid phases in a time span of one hour.
Any suggestions would be more than welcoming.
Leon
Hi Leon, I can produce W/O droplets with the diameter of approximately 200 um using a PDMS chip. I use paraffin oil with 3% SPAN80 as the continuous phase and DI water as the dispersed phase.
Hello Yu-Hsun Wang. Thank you for your quick response. Are your droplets also stable under storage conditions in an eppendorf or falcon tube, outside of PDMS chip? I can produce droplets with ease inside chip. When collecting them in an eppendorf tube, at first they remain intact and stable, but in a time span of 30 minutes they break apart in two separate phases.
Thank you!
My droplets were fabricated in a PDMS chip then flow into a petri dish. They can be stable for a long period of time without merging or seperating, but there seems to be some percipitate coated around the droplets after 30mins.
Hi Leon,
I could make aqueous droplets inside mineral oil+span 80 (5% wt) 50 to 300 um in diameter. They are stable enough for a long time. Can you replace hexadecane with mineral oil? btw, I use PDMS chip (Tj and FF).
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