Functional Soft Matter & Materials Group, Key Laboratory of Space Applied Physics and Chemistry of Ministry of Education, School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Northwestern Polytechnical University , Xi'an 710129, China.
School of Electronics and Information, Northwestern Polytechnical University , Xi'an 710129, China.
Langmuir. 2017 Jun 27;33(25):6232-6239. doi: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.7b00347. Epub 2017 Mar 31.
Liquid marbles show promising potential for application in the microreactor field. Control of the coalescence between two or among multiple liquid marbles is critical; however, the successful merging of two isolated marbles is difficult because of their mechanically robust particle shells. In this work, the coalescence of multiple liquid marbles was achieved via acoustic levitation. The dynamic behaviors of the liquid marbles were monitored by a high-speed camera. Driven by the sound field, the liquid marbles moved toward each other, collided, and eventually coalesced into a larger single marble. The underlying mechanisms of this process were probed via sound field simulation and acoustic radiation pressure calculation. The results indicated that the pressure gradient on the liquid marble surface favors the formation of a liquid bridge between the liquid marbles, resulting in their coalescence. A preliminary indicator reaction was induced by the coalescence of dual liquid marbles, which suggests that expected chemical reactions can be successfully triggered with multiple reagents contained in isolated liquid marbles via acoustic levitation.
液珠在微反应器领域具有广阔的应用前景。控制两个或多个液珠之间的聚并至关重要；然而，由于其机械坚固的颗粒外壳，成功合并两个孤立的液珠是困难的。在这项工作中，通过声悬浮实现了多个液珠的聚并。高速摄像机监测液珠的动态行为。在声场的驱动下，液珠相互移动、碰撞，最终合并成一个更大的单液珠。通过声场模拟和声辐射压力计算探究了这一过程的潜在机制。结果表明，液珠表面的压力梯度有利于在液珠之间形成液桥，从而导致它们的聚并。双液珠的聚并引发了初步的指示反应，这表明可以通过声悬浮成功地用多个试剂触发包含在孤立液珠中的预期化学反应。
