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Dynamics of non-Newtonian agarose gel droplet formation in two-phase microfluidic systems
Uppsala University, Disciplinary Domain of Science and Technology, Technology, Department of Materials Science and Engineering. Uppsala University, Science for Life Laboratory, SciLifeLab.
Uppsala University, Disciplinary Domain of Science and Technology, Technology, Department of Materials Science and Engineering. Uppsala University, Science for Life Laboratory, SciLifeLab.
Uppsala University, Disciplinary Domain of Science and Technology, Technology, Department of Materials Science and Engineering. Uppsala University, Science for Life Laboratory, SciLifeLab.
Uppsala University, Disciplinary Domain of Science and Technology, Technology, Department of Materials Science and Engineering. Uppsala University, Science for Life Laboratory, SciLifeLab.ORCID iD: 0000-0001-9503-5481
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2025 (English)In: Physics of fluids, ISSN 1070-6631, E-ISSN 1089-7666, Vol. 37, no 3, article id 032010Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Droplet-based microfluidics is a valuable tool in interdisciplinary research fields like cell biology and diagnostics. Newtonian fluids, like aqueous-based solutions, are commonly used for droplet generation. However, non-Newtonian fluids, e.g., hydrogels, are becoming increasingly popular as the dispersed phase. In this study, we investigate the dynamics of non-Newtonian ultra-low-gelling agarose droplet formation under different conditions to evaluate stability, with an aim to better understand the underlying physics of droplet formation. We varied the agarose gel concentration, temperature (40, 50, and 60 degrees C), and the flow rate ratio (phi) between the continuous and dispersed phase and observed droplet formation dynamics in the squeezing regime (capillary number, Ca-c < 0.015) in a T-junction under different flow conditions. We experimentally investigated the droplet size ( L (D) / w ) as a function of those four parameters and found that L- D / w depends strongly on phi, the agarose concentration, and temperature (which affects the viscosity ratio, lambda), but is only weakly dependent on Ca-c . We then confirmed our experimental findings with numerical simulations, which showed good agreement across all conditions. We numerically showed that the agarose droplet formation process consists of five stages, namely, filling, necking, pinching, threading, and breakup, where threading is an additional stage with a non-Newtonian dispersed phase. Finally, with numerical simulation, we concluded that threading length (l(thread )) is directly proportional to phi and has a complex relation with agarose concentration, and temperature.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
American Institute of Physics (AIP), 2025. Vol. 37, no 3, article id 032010
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Fluid Mechanics
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URN: urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-553122DOI: 10.1063/5.0255319ISI: 001438786200046Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-86000152801OAI: oai:DiVA.org:uu-553122DiVA, id: diva2:1947618
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EU, Horizon 2020, 2019-00207Swedish Research CouncilAvailable from: 2025-03-26 Created: 2025-03-26 Last updated: 2025-03-26Bibliographically approved

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Agnihotri, Sagar NarhariDas, Pradipta Kr.Werr, GabrielPalierse, EstellePersson, CeciliaTenje, Maria
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