Figure 2

(a–d) Brightfield images showing the outlet of the microfluidic chip. A 40 mg/ml RSF protein was used as the dispersed phase and FC-40 with fluorosurfactant was used as the continuous phase. (a) Elongated fibre-like structure when \(Q_{dis}\) = 100 \(\mu\)L/h, \(Q_{cont}\) = 100 \(\mu\)L/h. (b) Asymmetric, tubular structures when \(Q_{dis}\)= 100 \(\mu\)L/h, \(Q_{cont}\) = 400 \(\mu\)L/h. (c) Mixture of tubular and spherical structures when \(Q_{dis}\) = 100 \(\mu\)L/h, \(Q_{cont}\) = 800 \(\mu\)L/h. (d) spherical structures when \(Q_{dis}\) = 100 \(\mu\)L/h, \(Q_{cont}\) = 1500 \(\mu\)L/h. (e) Darkfield images of tubular structures following formation. (f) Darkfield images of tubular structures one week after formation. (g) FTIR spectra of 40 mg/ml RSF. The blue curve represents the RSF solution at t = 0 h, before any gelation has occurred. The green curve represents the micro-gels 1 h after formation, while the red curve corresponds to the micro-gels 24 h after formation.