Electro‐Microfluidic Assembly Platform for Manipulating Colloidal Structures inside Water‐in‐Oil Emulsion Droplets. Issue 32 (28th September 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Shen, Shitao; Qin, Xiaofeng; Feng, Haoqiang; Xie, Shuting; Yi, Zichuan; Jin, Mingliang; Zhou, Guofu; Akinoglu, Eser Metin; Mulvaney, Paul; Shui, Lingling
• Is Part Of: Advanced science. Volume 9:Issue 32(2022)
• Page Start: n/a
• Page End: n/a
• Publication Date: 2022-09-28
• Subjects: colloidal assembly -- dielectrophoresis -- displays -- electric field -- water‐in‐oil droplet; Science -- Periodicals; 505
• DOI: 10.1002/advs.202203341
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2198-3844

Abstract

Abstract: Colloidal assembly is a key strategy in nature and artificial device. Hereby, an electromicrofluidic assembly platform (eMAP) is proposed and validated to achieve 3D colloidal assembly and manipulation within water droplets. The water‐in‐oil emulsion droplets autoposition in the eMAP driven by dielectrophoresis, where the (di)electrowetting effect induces droplet deformation, facilitating quadratic growth of the electric field in water droplet to achieve "far‐field" dielectrophoretic colloidal assembly. Reconfigurable 3D colloidal configurations are observed and dynamically programmed via applied electric fields, colloidal properties, and droplet size. Binary and ternary colloidal assemblies in one droplet allow designable chemical and physical anisotropies for functional materials and devices. Integration of eMAP in high throughput enables mass production of functional microcapsules, and programmable optoelectronic units for display devices. This eMAP is a valuable reference for expanding fundamental and practical exploration of colloidal systems. Abstract : 3D colloidal assembly in water droplet is achieved via dielectrophoretic induced droplet positioning, (di)electrowetting induced droplet deformation, and dielectrophoretic induced particle assembly, obtaining multiple tunable assembly configurations for constructing anisotropic microcapsules with binary colloidal structure or switchable microvalves which enables applications in functional materials or display devices.