Issue 2, 2021

Microfluidic thin film pressure balance for the study of complex thin films

Abstract

Investigations of free-standing liquid films enjoy an increasing popularity due to their relevance for many fundamental and applied scientific problems. They constitute soap bubbles and foams, serve as membranes for gas transport or as model membranes in biophysics. More generally, they provide a convenient tool for the investigation of numerous fundamental questions related to interface- and confinement-driven effects in soft matter science. Several approaches and devices have been developed in the past to characterise reliably the thinning and stability of such films, which were commonly created from low-viscosity, aqueous solutions/dispersions. With an increasing interest in the investigation of films made from strongly viscoelastic and complex fluids that may also solidify, the development of a new generation of devices is required to manage reliably the constraints imposed by these formulations. We therefore propose here a microfluidic chip design which allows for the reliable creation, control and characterisation of free-standing films of complex fluids. We provide all technical details and we demonstrate the device functioning for a larger range of systems via a selection of illustrative examples, including films of polymer melts and gelling hydrogels.

Graphical abstract: Microfluidic thin film pressure balance for the study of complex thin films

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
25 Sep 2020
Accepted
08 Dec 2020
First published
09 Dec 2020

Lab Chip, 2021,21, 412-420

Microfluidic thin film pressure balance for the study of complex thin films

S. Andrieux, P. Muller, M. Kaushal, N. S. Macias Vera, R. Bollache, C. Honorez, A. Cagna and W. Drenckhan, Lab Chip, 2021, 21, 412 DOI: 10.1039/D0LC00974A

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements