Xu Siyuan, Nisisako Takasi
Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Engineering, Institute of Science Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
Keihanna Research Center, Kyocera Corporation, 3-5-3 Hikaridai, Seika-cho, Soraku-gun, Kyoto, 619-0237, Japan.
Sci Rep. 2025 Jul 2;15(1):22936. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-06869-y.
Lens-shaped particles with uniform size and precisely controlled shape are essential for applications ranging from controlled self-assembly to advanced micro-optical elements. We present a microfluidic method for generating surfactant-laden ternary droplets that enables the simultaneous fabrication of two biconvex polymeric particles with independently controlled sizes and shapes. This approach uses two photocurable acrylate monomer streams, separated by a non-curable silicone oil stream containing a surfactant, which are emulsified into nanoliter-sized ternary droplets within an aqueous polyvinyl alcohol solution. Minimizing interfacial energies results in stable ternary droplets comprising two biconvex monomer segments that are partially exposed to the external solution and separated by a biconcave non-curable segment. Off-chip photopolymerization of this droplet morphology produces two biconvex polymer particles from a single precursor droplet, effectively doubling the production yield compared to that of surfactant-laden Janus droplets. By precisely adjusting the flow-rate ratios, we achieved flexible control over the shape and size of the monomer segments, allowing for the tailored production of biconvex polymer particles. This versatile and efficient technique shows significant promise for advancing the development of specialized micro-optical elements and other functional materials, particularly in optics and imaging.
尺寸均匀且形状精确可控的透镜状颗粒对于从可控自组装到先进微光学元件等一系列应用至关重要。我们提出了一种用于生成负载表面活性剂的三元液滴的微流控方法，该方法能够同时制造两个尺寸和形状可独立控制的双凸聚合物颗粒。这种方法使用两股光固化丙烯酸酯单体流，它们被一股含有表面活性剂的不可固化硅油流隔开，在聚乙烯醇水溶液中被乳化形成纳升尺寸的三元液滴。使界面能最小化会产生稳定的三元液滴，该液滴由两个部分暴露于外部溶液并被一个双凹不可固化部分隔开的双凸单体段组成。这种液滴形态的片外光聚合从单个前驱体液滴产生两个双凸聚合物颗粒，与负载表面活性剂的Janus液滴相比，有效产量提高了一倍。通过精确调整流速比，我们实现了对单体段形状和尺寸的灵活控制，从而能够定制生产双凸聚合物颗粒。这种通用且高效的技术对于推进专门的微光学元件和其他功能材料的开发具有重大前景，特别是在光学和成像领域。
