A Microfluidic Chip Using Phenol Formaldehyde Resin for Uniform-Sized Polycaprolactone and Chitosan Microparticle Generation

作者：Lin Yung Sheng; Yang Chih Hui; Wu Chin Tung; Grumezescu Alexandru Mihai; Wang Chih Yu; Hsieh Wan Chen; Chen Szu Yu; Huang Keng Shiang^*

来源：Molecules, 2013, 18(6): 6521-6531.

DOI：10.3390/molecules18066521

• microfluidics
• emulsion
• droplet
• microparticles
• phenol formaldehyde resin
• polycaprolactone
• chitosan

This study develops a new solvent-compatible microfluidic chip based on phenol formaldehyde resin (PFR). In addition to its solvent-resistant characteristics, this microfluidic platform also features easy fabrication, organization, decomposition for cleaning, and reusability compared with conventional chips. Both solvent-dependent (e. g., polycaprolactone) and nonsolvent-dependent (e. g., chitosan) microparticles were successfully prepared. The size of emulsion droplets could be easily adjusted by tuning the flow rates of the dispersed/continuous phases. After evaporation, polycaprolactone microparticles ranging from 29.3 to 62.7 mu m and chitosan microparticles ranging from 215.5 to 566.3 mu m were obtained with a 10% relative standard deviation in size. The proposed PFR microfluidic platform has the advantages of active control of the particle size with a narrow size distribution as well as a simple and low cost process with a high throughput.

• 出版日期2013-6