Fig. 2: Physical principles of PSMs formation. | Nature Communications

Fig. 2: Physical principles of PSMs formation.

From: One-step formation of polymorphous sperm-like microswimmers by vortex turbulence-assisted microfluidics

Fig. 2

a Schematic representation of alginate/oil droplet formation. The different thickness of hydrogel-oil is defined by \(\lambda=4b\kappa /3\sigma\). The alginate/oil droplet are fabricated by cross-shaped channel. b Schematic representation of the demulsification stage starts on alginate/oil droplets. A COMSOL simulation of the demulsification process of the hydrogel-oil droplets in low Reynolds coefficient turbulence (Supplementary Movie 1). (I) A critical capillary value \({\Omega }_{b}\) is defined to describe the hydrogel-oil droplet state, which is remain steady when \({Ca} \, < \, {\Omega }_{b}\) and burst when \({Ca}\,\ge\,{\Omega }_{b}\). (II) The gap appearing in an ultra-thin oil membrane is observed at 1 millisecond moment. Then, with the increase of flow strength, the droplet deformation can be observed in the instantaneous environment. (III) The inside hydrogel phase outflows from fragmentized oil membrane. c The hydrogel phase could be solidified to form PSMs by cross-linking reaction. d The probability of PSMs productive formation by adjusting vortex flow rotation speed and calcium chloride solution concentration. The morphology of PSMs. e The mass production of PSMs.

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