Study on “interface - shrinkage - driven” breakup of droplets in co-flowing microfluidic devices

- A new droplet breakup mechanism in co-axial microchannel was discovered.
- The new mechanism was driven by interface shrinkage of the dispersed phase neck.
- The droplet size is little affected by Ca when the new breakup mechanism dominates.
- Droplet size under new mechanism is much smaller than that under classic mechanism.
- The new mechanism dominates when the contact angle of dispersed phase on DFC>150°.

In co-flowing microfluidic device, it is usually thought the droplet size is significantly influenced by the capillary number in dripping flow. However, it was found in this study that when the contact angle of the dispersed fluid with the dispersed fluid channel was sufficiently large, the droplet size would be little affected by the capillary number. To explain this phenomenon, an “interface - shrinkage - driven” breakup mechanism was proposed. Three different systems and six different microfluidic devices were used in the experiment to prove the universality of the mechanism. The critical contact angle of the dispersed fluid with the dispersed fluid channel was finally discussed.