Directly Suspended Droplet Three Liquid Phase Microextraction of Diclofenac Prior to LC

Directly suspended droplet liquid–liquid–liquid microextraction (LLLME) has been used to determine residues of diclofenac (2-[2-(2,6-dichlorophenyl) aminophenyl] ethanoic acid), in environmental water samples. In this technique a free suspended droplet of an aqueous solvent is delivered to the top-center position of an immiscible organic solvent floating on the top of an aqueous sample while being agitated by a stirring bar placed on the bottom of the sample cell. Recently, diclofenac was found as an environmental contaminant in sewage, surface, ground and drinking water samples. In the present work, diclofenac was extracted from water samples by LLLME and analysed by HPLC with UV detection at 281 nm. Factors such as organic solvent, extraction and back extraction times, stirring rate and the pH of acceptor and donor phases were optimized. Enrichment factor and detection limit (LOD, n = 7) were 102 and 0.1 μg L⁻¹, respectively. The linearity ranged from 0.5 to 2,000 μg⁻¹ with a %RSD (n = 5) of 7.2 at S/N = 3. All experiments were carried out at room temperature (22 ± 0.5 °C).     

Determinants for Fusion Speed of Biomolecular Droplets

Biomolecular droplets formed through phase separation have a tendency to fuse. The speed with which fusion occurs is a direct indicator of condensate liquidity, which is key to both cellular functions and diseases. Using a dual-trap optical tweezers setup, we found the fusion speeds of four types of droplets to differ by two orders of magnitude. The order of fusion speed correlates with the fluorescence of thioflavin T, which in turn reflects the macromolecular packing density inside droplets. Unstructured protein or polymer chains pack loosely and readily rearrange, leading to fast fusion. In contrast, structured protein domains pack more closely and have to break extensive contacts before rearrangement, corresponding to slower fusion. This molecular interpretation for disparate fusion speeds provides mechanistic insight into the assembly and aging of biomolecular droplets.     

Electrokinetic actuation of an uncharged polarizable dielectric droplet in charged hydrogel medium

Electrokinetic transport of an uncharged nonconducting microsized liquid droplet in a charged hydrogel medium is studied. Dielectric polarization of the liquid drop under the action of an externally imposed electric field induces a non-homogeneous charge density at the droplet surface. The interactions of the induced surface charge of the droplet with the immobile charges of the hydrogel medium generates an electric force to the droplet, which actuates the drop through the charged hydrogel medium. A numerical study based on the first principle of electrokinetics is adopted. Dependence of the droplet velocity on its dielectric permittivity, bulk ionic concentration, and immobile charge density of the gel is analyzed. The surface conduction is significant in presence of charged gel, which creates a concentration polarization. The impact of the counterion saturation in the Debye layer due to the dielectric decrement of the medium is addressed. The modified Nernst–Planck equation for ion transport and the Poisson equation for the electric field is considered to take into account the dielectric polarization. A quadrupolar vortex around the uncharged droplet is observed when the gel medium is considered to be uncharged, which is similar to the induced charge electroosmosis around an uncharged dielectric colloid in free-solution. We find that the induced charge electrokinetic mechanism creates a strong recirculation of liquid within the droplet and the translational velocity of the droplet strongly depends on its size for the dielectric droplet embedded in a charged gel medium.     

Determination of chlorophenols in environmental water samples using directly suspended droplet liquid-liquid-liquid phase microextraction prior to high-performance liquid chromatography

A new sample preparation method named directly suspended droplet liquid-liquid-liquid phase microextraction was used in this research for determination of three chlorophenols in environmental water samples. The analytes (2-chlorophenol, 3-chlorophenol and 4-chlorophenol) were extracted from 4.5?mL acidic donor phase, (pH 2, P1) into an organic phase, 350?µL?of benzene/1-octanol (90?:?10 v/v, P2) and then were back-extracted into a 7?µL droplet of an basic (pH 13) aqueous solution (acceptor phase, P3). In this method, contrary to the ordinary single drop liquid-phase microextraction technique, an aqueous large droplet is freely suspended on the surface of the organic solvent, without using a microsyringe as supporting device. This aqueous microdroplet is delivered at the top-centre position of an immiscible organic solvent which is laid over the aqueous donor sample solution while the solution is being agitated. Then, the acceptor phase containing chlorophenols was withdrawn back into a HPLC microsyringe and neutralised by adding of 7?µL HCl 0.1?M. The total amount was eventually injected into the HPLC system with UV detection at 225?nm for further analysis. Parameters such as the organic solvent, phases volumes, extraction and back-extraction times, stirring rate and pH values were optimised. The calibration graphs are linear in the range of 10–2000?µg?L^?1 with r?≥?0.9973. The enrichment factors were ranged from 115 to 170, and the limit of detection (LOD, n?=?7) varied from 5 to 10?µg?L^?1. The relative standard deviations (RSDs, n?=?5) were found 6.8 to 7.4 at S/N?=?3. All experiments were carried out at room temperature, (22?±?0.5°C).     

Analysis of droplet behavior in a de-oiling hydrocyclone

A mechanical separation process in a de-oiling hydrocyclone is described in which disperse oil droplets are separated from a continuous water phase. This separation process is influenced by droplet breakage and coalescence. Based on experimental data and simulation results in a stirred tank, a modified breakage model, which can be applied to droplet breakage in the de-oiling hydrocyclone, is developed. Then, a simulation model is developed coupling the numerical solution of the flow field in the hydrocyclone based on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) with population balances. The homogenous discrete method and the inhomogeneous discrete method are applied for solving the population balance model (PBM). The investigations show that the numerical results obtained by the simulation model coupled with the modified PBM using the inhomogeneous discrete method are in good accordance with experimental data under a high flow rate. According to this simulation model, the effect of three different inlet designs on the separation efficiency of the de-oiling hydrocyclone has been discussed. The results indicate that the separation efficiency of the de-oiling hydrocyclone can be improved with an appropriate inlet design.     

Pickering乳滴模板法制备超粒子结构有机/无机杂化微球

Pickering乳滴模板法制备有机/无机杂化的核壳微球越来越引起人们的关注,主要因为该方法制备出的微球具有以无机粒子为壳层的超粒子结构(supracolloidal structure),能够赋予微球独特的功能.胶体粒子在乳滴表面自组装形成有序的球面胶体壳,得到稳定Pickering乳液,固定乳滴表面的胶体粒子来制备核壳结构的微球或者以胶体粒子为壳层的微胶囊(colloidosome).本文综述了我们课题组以Pickering乳滴模板法制备超粒子结构有机/无机杂化微胶囊包括实心微球方面的工作.我们选择具有不同性能、种类的胶体粒子以及具有不同性质和功能的核材料,采用Pickering乳滴模板法,对吸附在乳滴表面的胶体粒子用不同的固定方法制备具有不同结构和性能的微球和微胶囊,利用基于多重Pickering乳液的聚合技术制备双纳米复合的超粒子结构多核聚合物微球.     

基于液滴微流控接口的高效液相色谱-毛细管电泳二维分离平台初探

蛋白质组体系的高度复杂性需要更高分辨率的多维分离技术。近年兴起的液滴技术在微纳尺度样品操控方面具有微体积、低扩散、无返混等独特优势,有望为多维分离平台的接口提供解决方案。通过采用不同结构的液滴微流控芯片可以实现“液滴生成”与“油相排除”功能,进行样品由连续流-非连续流-连续流的高效转移,将不同的分离模式进行二维耦联。本研究利用液滴作为接口技术耦联高效液相色谱与毛细管电泳构建二维分离系统,以蛋白质降解的复杂多肽混合物为样品,考察了液滴接口二维分离平台的可行性和有效性,并获得3000以上的峰容量,初步展示了该接口技术在多维分离分析领域的应用潜力。     

Analysis of visual perception of light emitting diode brightness in dense fog with various droplet sizes

Road signs must provide a conspicuous signal to a wide variety of drivers over a broad range of environmental and geometric conditions. Recently, there are an increasing number of applications in which light emitting diodes (LEDs) are used as the light source, including critical transportation signaling. In the presence of fog, the resulting visual signal is disturbed due to light scattering by airborne water droplets. By measuring LED brightness with human spectral sensitivity in various densities and various droplet sizes (10, 30, 50, and 100 μm), it is understood that the particle size distribution (fog droplet size) and density of fog does affect visibility in fog. The colored LEDs that contain a yellow component had high brightness evaluation, blue component had low brightness evaluation in all densities and different droplet sizes. The result in this paper can contribute to air and land traffic safety and the prevention of accidents.     

液滴平壁铺展过程中的滞后效应及力学机制研究

研究了液滴平壁铺展过程中的接触角滞后效应,从接触线附近流体的压力、速度以及能量分布等角度考虑滞后效应的成因和变化规律.在此基础之上分析了固体表面粗糙度对滞后效应的影响,并借助部分三维形貌参数(ISO 25178)建立了固体表面形貌与接触角滞后效应之间的量化关系.为了研究以上内容,应用数值仿真软件建立了液滴铺展动力学模型,并结合固体表面上的滞后性实验进行了相关验证.研究结果表明:由于表面粗糙度的存在,液滴铺展至平衡位置时,位于铺展前沿的液体分子被钉扎在固体表面的凹坑或低谷中,使得前沿接触角逐渐增大,后沿接触角逐渐减小,接触角发生滞后;驱动液滴铺展的Laplace压力和自身重力与阻碍液滴铺展的黏性阻力之间的平衡关系,是接触角发生滞后的主要力学机制.另外,实验结果表明接触角滞后效应与固体表面形貌密切相关,具有相同表面粗糙度(Sa)的固体表面,由于表面形貌不同接触角滞后效应可能存在明显的差异.     

Investigations into wetting and spreading behaviors of impacting metal droplet under ultrasonic vibration control

Ultrasonic-assisted metal droplet deposition (UAMDD) is currently considered a promising technology in droplet-based 3D printing due to its capability to change the wetting and spreading behaviors at the droplet-substrate interface. However, the involved contact dynamics during impacting droplet deposition, particularly the complex physical interaction and metallurgical reaction of induced wetting-spreading-solidification by the external energy, remain unclear to date, which hinders the quantitative prediction and regulation of the microstructures and bonding property of the UAMDD bumps. Here, the wettability of the impacting metal droplet ejected by a piezoelectric micro-jet device (PMJD) on non-wetting and wetting ultrasonic vibration substrates is studied, and the corresponding spreading diameter, contact angle, and bonding strength are also discussed. For the non-wetting substrate, the wettability of the droplet can be significantly increased due to the extrusion of the vibration substrate and the momentum transfer layer at the droplet-substrate interface. And the wettability of the droplet on a wetting substrate is increased at a lower vibration amplitude, which is driven by the momentum transfer layer and the capillary waves at the liquid–vapor interface. Moreover, the effects of the ultrasonic amplitude on the droplet spreading are studied under the resonant frequency of 18.2–18.4 kHz. Compared to deposit droplets on a static substrate, such UAMDD has 31% and 2.1% increments in the spreading diameters for the non-wetting and wetting systems, and the corresponding adhesion tangential forces are increased by 3.85 and 5.59 times.