Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

Fabrication of monolayers of uniform polymeric particles by inkjet printing of monodisperse emulsions produced by microfluidics

Wang, Yilin; Deng, Renhua; Yang, Lisong; Bain, Colin D.

Fabrication of monolayers of uniform polymeric particles by inkjet printing of monodisperse emulsions produced by microfluidics Thumbnail


Authors

Yilin Wang

Renhua Deng



Abstract

Emulsion solvent evaporation is a well-established method for generating microparticles from solutions of polymers in volatile organic solvents dispersed in an aqueous medium. Previous work has shown that this approach can also be used to deposit particles by inkjet printing where the particles are formed during the drying of a liquid ink on a substrate. The particle size distribution, however, was very broad. Here we demonstrate that inkjet printing of oil-in-water emulsions produced by microfluidics can generate micron-sized particles with a narrow size distribution (coefficient of variation <6%) and that these particles can self-assemble into ordered arrays with hexagonal packing. The conditions under which drops can be printed with a minimum of break up and coalescence of the oil droplets in the emulsion are explored. Factors affecting the size of the particles and the morphology of the deposit are described. This study uses polystyrene in dichloromethane as a model system, but the approach can be generalized to the production of structured and functional particles.

Citation

Wang, Y., Deng, R., Yang, L., & Bain, C. D. (2019). Fabrication of monolayers of uniform polymeric particles by inkjet printing of monodisperse emulsions produced by microfluidics. Lab on a Chip, 19(18), 3077-3085. https://doi.org/10.1039/c9lc00588a

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jul 31, 2019
Online Publication Date Aug 2, 2019
Publication Date Sep 21, 2019
Deposit Date Nov 4, 2019
Publicly Available Date Jul 31, 2020
Journal Lab on a Chip
Print ISSN 1473-0197
Electronic ISSN 1473-0189
Publisher Royal Society of Chemistry
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 19
Issue 18
Pages 3077-3085
DOI https://doi.org/10.1039/c9lc00588a

Files





You might also like



Downloadable Citations