Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Volume 119, Issue 29, Pages -Publisher
NATL ACAD SCIENCES
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2206462119
Keywords
liquid gating; efficient emulsification; drag-reducing interfacial behavior; liquid structure; droplet
Categories
Funding
- National Natural Science Foundation of China [52025132, 21975209, 21621091, 22021001]
- National Key R&D Program of China [2018YFA0209500]
- 111 Project [B17027, B16029]
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This article introduces a simple and efficient emulsification method that uses a drag-reducing liquid gating structure to create a smooth liquid-liquid interface, improving the efficiency of droplet generation and providing a comfortable environment for temperature-sensitive biological components.
Emulsification is a crucial technique for mixing immiscible liquids into droplets in numerous areas ranging from food to medicine to chemical synthesis. Commercial emulsification methods are promising for high production, but suffer from high energy input. Here, we report a very simple and scalable emulsification method that employs the drag-reducing liquid gating structure to create a smooth liquid-liquid interface for the reduction of resistance and tunable generation of droplets with good uniformity. Theoretical modeling and experimental results demonstrate that our method exhibits ultrahigh efficiency, which can reach up to more than 4 orders of magnitude greater energy-saving compared to commercial methods. For temperature- sensitive biological components, such as enzymes, proteins, and bacteria, it can offer a comfortable environment to avoid exposure to high temperatures during emulsifying, and the interface also enables the suppression of fouling. This unique drag-reducing liquid gating interfacial emulsification mechanism promotes the efficiency of droplet generation and provides fresh insight into the innovation of emulsifications that can be applied in many fields, including the food industry, the daily chemical industry, biomedicine, material fabrication, the petrochemical industry, and beyond.
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