Controlled fission of droplet emulsion in bifurcating microfluidic channels

An integrated micro fluidic system for controlled fission of water-in-oil droplet emulsions has been designed, fabricated, and analyzed. The system consists of a droplet generator connected to a divergent channel. The fission of water droplets is achieved through bifurcating the flow of the continuous phase surrounding the droplet to generate pressure gradients that deform the droplet until it breaks. The sizes of the splitted droplets are controlled through varying the channel widths and the angle of the bifurcating junction. The fission phenomenon matches with simulation results at defined conditions.