Journal Article10.1126/SCIENCE.1134514
Coding/Decoding and Reversibility of Droplet Trains in Microfluidic Networks
TL;DR: The encoding/decoding device is a functional microfluidic system that requires droplets to navigate a network in a precise manner without the use of valves, switches, or other means of external control.
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Abstract: Droplets of one liquid suspended in a second, immiscible liquid move through a microfluidic device in which a channel splits into two branches that reconnect downstream. The droplets choose a path based on the number of droplets that occupy each branch. The interaction among droplets in the channels results in complex sequences of path selection. The linearity of the flow through the microchannels, however, ensures that the behavior of the system can be reversed. This reversibility makes it possible to encrypt and decrypt signals coded in the intervals between droplets. The encoding/decoding device is a functional microfluidic system that requires droplets to navigate a network in a precise manner without the use of valves, switches, or other means of external control.
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Citations
Bilayer membranes in micro-fluidics: from gel emulsions to soft functional devices
TL;DR: In this article, the authors outline a concept of self-assembled soft matter devices based on micro-fluidics which use surfactant bilayer membranes as their main building blocks, arrested in geometric structures provided by top-down lithography.
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Patent
Slippery self-lubricating polymer surfaces
Joanna Aizenberg,Michael Aizenberg,Jiaxi Cui,Stuart Dunn,Benjamin Hatton,Caitlin Howell,Philseok Kim,Tak Sing Wong,Xi Yao +8 more
- 12 Jul 2013
TL;DR: In this paper, a strategy to create self-healing, slippery self-lubricating polymers is described, which can repel a wide range of materials, including simple and complex fluids (water, hydrocarbons, crude oil and bodily fluids), restore liquid-repellency after physical damage, and resist ice, microorganisms and insects adhesion.
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Competition between local collisions and collective hydrodynamic feedback controls traffic flows in microfluidic networks.
TL;DR: By studying the repartition of monodisperse droplets at a simple T junction, it is shown that the traffic of discrete fluid systems in microfluidic networks results from two competing mechanisms, whose significance is driven by confinement.
57
Nonlinear Phenomena in Microfluidics.
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors focus on experimental work on nonlinear phenomena in microfluidics, which for the most part are phenomena for which the velocity of a fluid flowing through a micro-fluidic channel does not scale proportionately with the pressure drop.
56
Patent
Valves and other flow control in fluidic systems including microfluidic systems
Adam R. Abate,David A. Weitz +1 more
- 15 May 2009
TL;DR: In this paper, a valve with a first channel section and a second channel section is used to switch from a first fluid path to a second fluid path in a microfluidic system.
51
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