Microfluidic-Assisted Fabrication of Monodisperse Core-Shell Microcapsules for Pressure-Sensitive Adhesive with Enhanced Performance.

microfluidics; droplet; microcapsule; pressure-sensitive adhesive; bonding.

Interfacial Complexation Induced Controllable Fabrication of Stable Polyelectrolyte Microcapsules Using All-Aqueous Droplet Microfluidics for Enzyme Release.

Water-in-water (w/w) emulsions are particularly advantageous for biomedical-related applications, such as cell encapsulation, bioreactors, biocompatible storage, and processing of biomacromolecules. However, due to ultralow interfacial tension, generation and stabilization of uniform w/w droplets are challenging. In this work, we report a strategy of creating stable and size-controllable w/w droplets that can quickly form polyelectrolyte microcapsules (PEMCs) in a microfluidic device.

In-Channel Responsive Surface Wettability for Reversible and Multiform Emulsion Droplet Preparation and Applications.

We report on a simple approach for in-channel functionalization of a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) surface to obtain a switchable and reversible wettability change between hydrophilic and hydrophobic states. The thermally responsive polymer, poly( N-Isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm), was grafted on the surface of PDMS channels by UV-induced surface grafting. PNIPAAm-grafted PDMS (PNIPAAm-g-PDMS) surface wettability can be thermally tuned to obtain water contact angles varying in the range of 24.