Design of a microfluidic device for the measurement of the elastic modulus of deformable particles

Massimiliano M. Villone, Janine K. Nunes, Yankai Li, Howard A. Stone, Pier Luca Maffettone

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

17 Scopus citations

Abstract

A microfluidic technique recently proposed in the literature to measure the interfacial tension between a liquid droplet and an immiscible suspending liquid [Hudson et al., Appl. Phys. Lett., 2005, 87, 081905], [Cabral and Hudson, Lab Chip, 2006, 6, 427] is suitably adapted to the characterization of the elastic modulus of soft particles in a continuous-flow process. A microfluidic device consisting of a cylindrical pipe with a reduction in cross-section is designed, and the deformation and velocity of incompressible elastic particles suspended in a Newtonian liquid are tracked as they move along the centerline through the constriction. Kinematic and shape information is exploited to calculate the particle's elastic modulus by means of the theory of elastic particle deformation in extensional flow. The approach is validated for different orders of magnitude of the elastic capillary number through experiments and numerical simulations.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)880-889
Number of pages10
JournalSoft matter
Volume15
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - 2019

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Chemistry
  • Condensed Matter Physics

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