Osmolarity-controlled swelling behaviors of dumbbell double emulsions

Abstract eng:
We report a microfluidic approach to fabricate osmolarity-responsive dumbbell Water-in-Oil-in-Water(W/O/W) double emulsion with precisely osmolarity-controlled swelling behaviors. By using different concentration of KCL in the inner droplets and that in collection solutions, we independently control the swelling speed and size of each droplet in the dumbbell double emulsion. Interestingly, this osmolaritycontrolled swelling behaviors of inner droplets facilitate two different kind of transformation in the dumbbell emulsion. One is core-coalescence between two inner droplets, when the two inner droplets have similar size and concentration of KCL. Another one is swelling-breakdown of one inner droplet, when the two inner droplets have different concentration of KCL. The swelling-caused core-coalescence behavior in a dumbbell double emulsion establishes a new reactor for protecting reaction materials and products from being contaminated or released. In addition, swelling-breakdown behavior has the potential for controlling release of important active ingredients.

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