Mechanism for flow-rate controlled breakup in confined geometries: A route to monodisperse emulsions

作者:Garstecki P*; Stone HA; Whitesides GM
来源:Physical Review Letters, 2005, 94(16): 164501.
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.94.164501

摘要

This Letter describes a quasistationary breakup of an immiscible, inviscid fluid at low capillary numbers. The breakup proceeds in a coflowing, viscous liquid, in a confined geometry of a long and narrow orifice. In contrast to the capillary instability in an unbounded fluid, the collapse proceeds through a series of equilibria, each yielding the minimum interfacial energy of the fluid-fluid interface. The process is slow in comparison to typical relaxation speeds of the interface, and it is reversible. Its quasistatic character of collapse forms the basis for controlled, high-throughput generation of monodisperse fluid dispersions.