In this paper, some factors governing the evaporation rate of aqueous microdroplets generated in a newly developed PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane) microchannel device were examined. Microdroplets of about 0.25nL, composed of any one of the conventional solvents (including water, ethanol, and hexane) were found to be disappearing in about 1 h in a PDMS microchannel (diameter 80μm) when exposed to heating under light microscopy, although this slightly slowed down when placed in an ambient environment. Furthermore, when the inner wall of the PDMS microchannel was microfluidic coated by phospholipid solution, aqueous microdroplets could be maintained with no volume-loss up to at least 1 h.
RoachL. SSongHIsmagilovR. F‘Controlling nonspecific protein adsorption in a plug-based microfluidic system by controlling interfacial chemistry using fluorous-phase surfactants’Analyt. Chem.77 (3) (2005): 785–796
5.
BokerA.LinYChiapperiniKHorowitzRThompsonMCarreonVXuTAbetzCSkaffHDinsmoreA. DEmrickTRussellT. P‘Hierarchical nanoparticle assemblies formed by decorating breath figures’Nature Mater.3 (5) (2004): 302–306
6.
JahnA.ReinerJ. EVreelandW. NDeVoeD. LLocascioL. EGaitanM‘Preparation of nanoparticles by continuous-flow microfluidics’J. Nanoparticle Res.10 (6) (2008): 925–934
7.
LiS. WXuH. HWangY. JLuoG. S‘Controllable preparation of nanoparticles by drops and plugs flow in a microchannel device’Langmuir24 (8) (2008): 4194–4199
8.
JoanicotM.AjdariA‘Applied physics – droplet control for microfluidics’Science309 (2005): 887–888
9.
SongH.ChenD. LIsmagilovR. F‘The origins and the future of microfluidics’Nature442 (2006): 368–373
10.
ChristopherG. FAnnaS. L‘Microfluidic methods for generating continuous droplet streams’J. Phys D. Appl. Phys40 (2007): R319-R336.
11.
MurshedS. M. STanS. HNguyenN. TWongT. NYobasL‘Microdroplet formation of water and nanofluids in heat-induced microfluidic T-junction’Microfluid Nanofluid6 (2) (2009): 253–259
12.
McDonaldJ. CDuffyD. CAndersonJ. RChiuD. TWuHSchuellerO. JWhitesidesG. M‘Fabrication of microfluidic systems in poly(dimethylsiloxane)’Electrophoresis21 (1) (2000): 27–40
BerthierE.WarrickJYuHBeebeD. J‘Managing evaporation for more robust microscale assays Part 1. Volume loss in high throughput assays’Lab. Chip.8 (2008): 852–859
15.
LitbornE.RoeraadeJ‘A liquid lid for biochemical reactions in chip-based nanovials’Chromatogr. B.745 (2000): 137–147
16.
ZhangK.HuPLiangJ. LLuoG. A‘Microfluidic chip microdroplet manipulation and application’Chin. J. Analyt. Chem.4 (2008): 556–562
JiaY. FJiangJ. HMaX. DLiYHuangH. MCaiK. BCaiS. XWuY. P‘PDMS microchannel fabrication technique based on microwire-molding’Chin. Sci. Bull.53 (24) (2008): 3928–3936
19.
StalderA. FKulikGSageDBarbieriLHoffmannP‘A snake-based approach to accurate determination of both contact points and contact angles’Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochem. and Engng Aspects286 (1–3) (2006): 92–103
20.
RossD.GaitanMLaurieE‘Temperature measurement in microfluidic systems using a temperature-dependent fluorescent dye’Anal. Chem.73 (2001): 4117–4123
