| 초록 |
Micoscale droplets have useful applications including biochip, chemical sensor, HPLC column filler, drug delivery system, and nano-reactor etc. A general fabrication method of microscale droplets produces high size variation that reduces application efficiency. In this study, hydrogel micro-droplet formation with very low size variation in a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microfluidic device has been presented. A series of micro-fluidic devices with various channel shapes and diameters was designed and fabricated. Then micro-droplets of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) hydrogel in mineral oil were prepared in a microfluidic channel of the microfluidic device. Effect of microfluidic channel shape and diameters, flow rate, surfactant concentration, PEG hydrogel concentration on micro-droplet formation in the microfluidic device had been investigated and optimized to obtain mono-size hydrogel micro-droplets. The fabricated droplet sizes are from 40 to 200 μm. The prepared hydrogel micro-droplets might applicable to drug delivery system and sensor applications. |
