Multiple splitting of droplets using multi-furcating microfluidic channels

Abstract

Removing volumes from droplets is a challenging but critical step in many droplet-based applications. Geometry-mediated droplet splitting has the potential to reliably divide droplets and thus facilitate the implementation of this step. In this paper, we report the design of multi-furcating microfluidic channels for efficient droplet splitting. We studied the splitting regimes as the size of the mother droplets varied and investigated the effect of channel lengths. We further examined the droplet breakup mechanisms. This study could potentially be applied in washing steps in droplet-based biological assays or assays that require aliquot.