阅读说明：本技术 一种微阵列型乳液制备微流控芯片 (Micro-fluidic chip prepared from micro-array type emulsion ) 是由 赵远锦 高崴 王月桐 于 2020-05-19 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明涉及一种微阵列型乳液制备微流控芯片,包括上盖板和微通道阵列底板,上盖板具有连通至微通道阵列底板的两个进液孔,分别为离散相进口和连续相进口；微通道阵列底板内包含蛇形微通道阵列,蛇形微通道阵列为蛇形闭合结构,蛇形闭合结构内侧围成区域为梯度离散相微通道；所述微通道阵列底板在蛇形微通道阵列周围设有凸台,所述凸台与蛇形微通道阵列之间具有间隔区域,为梯度连续相微通道。蛇形微通道阵列由微通道阵列组成,离散相从梯度离散相微通道通过微通道阵列向梯度连续相微通道乳化,高通量生成单乳液；梯度连续相微通道的另一端为单乳液出口。本发明可优化流体分布,实现在单位时间对单乳液生成数量的控制,获得不同尺寸的单乳液。(The invention relates to a micro-fluidic chip for preparing micro-array type emulsion, which comprises an upper cover plate and a micro-channel array bottom plate, wherein the upper cover plate is provided with two liquid inlet holes communicated to the micro-channel array bottom plate, and the two liquid inlet holes are a discrete phase inlet and a continuous phase inlet respectively; the micro-channel array bottom plate comprises a snake-shaped micro-channel array which is a snake-shaped closed structure, and the inner side of the snake-shaped closed structure is enclosed into a region which is a gradient discrete phase micro-channel; the micro-channel array bottom plate is provided with bosses around the snake-shaped micro-channel array, and a spacing area is arranged between the bosses and the snake-shaped micro-channel array and is a gradient continuous phase micro-channel. The snake-shaped micro-channel array consists of a micro-channel array, the discrete phase is emulsified from the gradient discrete phase micro-channel to the gradient continuous phase micro-channel through the micro-channel array, and single emulsion is generated at high flux; the other end of the gradient continuous phase micro-channel is a single emulsion outlet. The invention can optimize the fluid distribution, realize the control of the generation amount of the single emulsion in unit time and obtain the single emulsions with different sizes.)

1. A micro-fluidic chip prepared from micro-array type emulsion is characterized in that: the device comprises an upper cover plate and a micro-channel array bottom plate, wherein the upper cover plate is provided with two liquid inlet holes communicated to the micro-channel array bottom plate, and the two liquid inlet holes are a discrete phase inlet and a continuous phase inlet respectively; the micro-channel array bottom plate comprises a snake-shaped micro-channel array, the snake-shaped micro-channel array is a snake-shaped closed structure, and the inner side of the snake-shaped closed structure is enclosed into a region which is a gradient discrete phase micro-channel; the micro-channel array bottom plate is provided with bosses around the snake-shaped micro-channel array, and a spacing area is arranged between the bosses and the snake-shaped micro-channel array and is a gradient continuous phase micro-channel; one end of the gradient discrete phase micro-channel is provided with a discrete phase liquid inlet channel, and the end part of the discrete phase liquid inlet channel corresponds to the position of a discrete phase inlet of the upper cover plate; one end of the gradient continuous phase micro-channel is provided with a continuous phase liquid inlet channel, and the end part of the continuous phase liquid inlet channel corresponds to the position of a continuous phase inlet of the upper cover plate; the snake-shaped micro-channel array consists of a micro-channel array, a discrete phase is emulsified from a gradient discrete phase micro-channel to a gradient continuous phase micro-channel through the micro-channel array, and a single emulsion is generated at high flux; the other end of the gradient continuous phase micro-channel is a single emulsion outlet, and the single emulsion outlet penetrates through a boss of a bottom plate of the micro-channel array and is used for leading out the generated single emulsion.

2. The micro-fluidic chip for preparing micro-array type emulsion according to claim 1, wherein: the snake-shaped micro-channel array takes a micro-channel array as a basic unit and is constructed by continuous distribution; the micro-channel array comprises wedge-shaped bulges which are adjacently arranged and horn-shaped micro-channels between the wedge-shaped bulges, wherein the horn-shaped micro-channels are communicated with gradient discrete-phase micro-channels and gradient continuous-phase micro-channels.

3. The micro-fluidic chip for preparing micro-array type emulsion according to claim 2, wherein: horn form microchannel both ends be loudspeaker column structure, including the upper end just put horn mouth and the horn mouth is invertd to the lower extreme, just put the horn mouth and invert between the horn mouth and link to each other through connecting the microchannel.

4. The micro-fluidic chip for preparing micro-array type emulsion according to claim 2, wherein: the depth H of the gradient discrete phase micro-channel is the same as that of the gradient continuous phase micro-channel, wherein H is more than or equal to 150 mu m and less than or equal to 300 mu m.

5. The micro-fluidic chip for preparing micro-array type emulsion according to claim 3, wherein: the depth H of the gradient discrete phase micro-channel and the gradient continuous phase micro-channel is larger than the depth of the horn-shaped micro-channel in the micro-channel array.

6. The micro-fluidic chip for preparing micro-array type emulsion according to claim 3, wherein: the diffusion angle of the horn-shaped structure of the horn-shaped microchannel is more than or equal to 30 degrees and less than or equal to 90 degrees.

7. The micro-fluidic chip for preparing micro-array type emulsion according to claim 2, wherein: h is more than or equal to 20 mu m and less than or equal to 60 mu m of the depth of the horn-shaped micro-channel, and w is more than or equal to 20 mu m and less than or equal to 60 mu m of the width of the horn mouth.

Technical Field

The invention relates to the field of microfluidic chips, in particular to a microfluidic chip prepared from a microarray type emulsion.

Background

In the traditional single-phase continuous flow micro-channel, the fluid transportation has inevitable problems: (1) the parabolic flow of the fluid causes taylor dispersion of the reagent, resulting in an uneven distribution of the solute in the channel; (2) the solute is not independent, and the axial and radial diffusion problems exist; (3) solutes are adsorbed on the channel walls, resulting in reagent loss and cross-contamination. The single emulsion is a two-phase fluid system with discrete phases distributed in a continuous phase in a small droplet form, and the single emulsion micro-droplets occupy small space and have small reaction volume, so that the consumption of reagents can be effectively reduced; the size of the liquid drop is controllable, the reaction time is adjustable, and the mixing and reaction speed among substances can be accelerated; the reaction substance is packaged in the micro-droplet to form an independent micro-reactor, so that the cross contamination among reagents and the pollution of the reagents to the wall surface of the channel can be reduced. Due to these advantages, the single-emulsion two-phase flow can solve the inherent problems existing in the traditional single-phase continuous flow, receives more and more attention, is widely applied to the fields of biomedicine, energy environment, chemical materials and the like, and has more and more abundant application scenes and is in a high-speed development stage.

The traditional single emulsion mass preparation mode is a mechanical stirring method and a membrane emulsification method, but due to the limitation of process technology, the prepared single emulsion has poor monodispersity and large reagent consumption. Microfluidic technology that can achieve precise manipulation of fluids in order to improve monodispersity of the single emulsion and reduce reagent consumption is introduced into the single emulsion preparation process. Although the microfluidic method solves the problem of monodispersity, the fluid flow in the microchannel is small, and the injection volume of the fluid per hour is only a few milliliters to a few tens of milliliters, so that the droplet emulsification process is slow (one drop at a time), and the mass preparation of single emulsion is seriously restricted. Therefore, the high-throughput preparation method of the emulsion based on the microfluidic technology is widely concerned and researched.

Inspired by the fact that a horn-shaped gradual structure generates continuous gradient pressure and a height gradient structure generates abrupt pressure, the invention designs a micro-fluidic chip prepared from emulsion, which has a snake-shaped micro-channel array and the characteristics of a gradient continuous phase micro-channel and a discrete phase micro-channel, wherein the snake-shaped micro-channel array is constructed by taking a horn-shaped micro-channel as a basic unit. The trumpet-shaped microchannel unit and the gradient continuous phase microchannel and the discrete phase microchannel can generate pressure gradient, and the uniform emulsification of single emulsion at the microchannel is promoted under the action of Reynolds-Rayleigh instability. In addition, the horn-shaped microchannel units are continuously distributed to construct a snake-shaped microchannel array, the snake-shaped microchannel array can optimize fluid distribution, and the number of the horn-shaped microchannel units distributed between the gradient discrete-phase microchannel and the gradient continuous-phase microchannel is increased, so that single emulsion is emulsified in a plurality of microchannels in parallel, the yield of the single emulsion is increased, and the aim of preparing the emulsion at high flux is fulfilled.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention aims to solve the problems of low monodispersity and low preparation efficiency of emulsion in the single emulsion preparation process, and provides a snake-shaped micro-channel array which is constructed by taking a horn-shaped micro-channel as a basic unit and an emulsion preparation micro-fluidic chip with the characteristics of gradient continuous phase micro-channels and discrete phase micro-channels.

The trumpet-shaped microchannel unit and the gradient continuous phase microchannel and the discrete phase microchannel can generate pressure gradient, and the uniform emulsification of single emulsion at the microchannel is promoted under the action of Reynolds-Rayleigh instability. The snake-shaped micro-channel array can optimize fluid distribution, and increase the number of horn-shaped micro-channel units distributed between the gradient discrete-phase micro-channel and the gradient continuous-phase micro-channel, so that the single emulsion is emulsified in a plurality of micro-channels in parallel, thereby increasing the output of the single emulsion and achieving the purpose of high-throughput preparation of the emulsion.

In order to achieve the purpose, the technical scheme provided by the invention is as follows:

a micro-fluidic chip for preparing micro-array type emulsion comprises an upper cover plate and a micro-channel array bottom plate, wherein the upper cover plate is provided with two liquid inlet holes communicated to the micro-channel array bottom plate, and the two liquid inlet holes are respectively a discrete phase inlet and a continuous phase inlet; the micro-channel array bottom plate comprises a snake-shaped micro-channel array, the snake-shaped micro-channel array is a snake-shaped closed structure, and the inner side of the snake-shaped closed structure is enclosed into a region which is a gradient discrete phase micro-channel; the micro-channel array bottom plate is provided with bosses around the snake-shaped micro-channel array, and a spacing area is arranged between the bosses and the snake-shaped micro-channel array and is a gradient continuous phase micro-channel; one end of the gradient discrete phase micro-channel is provided with a discrete phase liquid inlet channel, and the end part of the discrete phase liquid inlet channel corresponds to the position of a discrete phase inlet of the upper cover plate; one end of the gradient continuous phase micro-channel is provided with a continuous phase liquid inlet channel, and the end part of the continuous phase liquid inlet channel corresponds to the position of a continuous phase inlet of the upper cover plate; the snake-shaped micro-channel array consists of a micro-channel array, a discrete phase is emulsified from a gradient discrete phase micro-channel to a gradient continuous phase micro-channel through the micro-channel array, and a single emulsion is generated at high flux; the other end of the gradient continuous phase micro-channel is a single emulsion outlet, and the single emulsion outlet penetrates through a boss of a bottom plate of the micro-channel array and is used for leading out the generated single emulsion.

The snake-shaped micro-channel array takes a micro-channel array as a basic unit and is constructed by continuous distribution; the micro-channel array comprises wedge-shaped bulges which are adjacently arranged and horn-shaped micro-channels between the wedge-shaped bulges, wherein the horn-shaped micro-channels are communicated with gradient discrete-phase micro-channels and gradient continuous-phase micro-channels.

Horn form microchannel both ends be loudspeaker column structure, including the upper end just put horn mouth and the horn mouth is invertd to the lower extreme, just put the horn mouth and invert between the horn mouth and link to each other through connecting the microchannel.

The depth H of the gradient discrete phase micro-channel is the same as that of the gradient continuous phase micro-channel, wherein H is more than or equal to 150 mu m and less than or equal to 300 mu m.

The depth H of the gradient discrete phase micro-channel and the gradient continuous phase micro-channel is larger than the depth of the horn-shaped micro-channel in the micro-channel array.

The diffusion angle of the horn-shaped structure of the horn-shaped microchannel is more than or equal to 30 degrees and less than or equal to 90 degrees.

H is more than or equal to 20 mu m and less than or equal to 60 mu m of the depth of the horn-shaped micro-channel, and w is more than or equal to 20 mu m and less than or equal to 60 mu m of the width of the horn-shaped micro-channel.

Compared with the prior art, the invention has the beneficial effects that:

the invention discloses a micro-fluidic chip prepared from micro-array type emulsion, wherein in the operation process of the micro-fluidic chip, a discrete phase fluid enters and fills a discrete phase micro-channel, is emulsified into single emulsion at the joint of the horn-shaped micro-channel and a gradient continuous phase micro-channel under the action of continuous gradient pressure in the horn-shaped micro-channel and high gradient abrupt change pressure in the gradient continuous phase micro-fluidic channel, and finally flows out from an outlet (a single emulsion outlet) of the micro-fluidic chip under the action of the continuous phase fluid. By continuously and periodically distributing horn-shaped microchannels, a snake-shaped microchannel array is constructed, and fluid distribution can be optimized; the control of the generation amount of the single emulsion in unit time can be realized by adjusting the number of horn-shaped micro-channels distributed between the gradient discrete phase micro-channel and the gradient continuous phase micro-channel. In addition, the size of the prepared single emulsion is only related to the channel size parameter, so that the single emulsion with different sizes can be obtained only by regulating the channel size, and the monodispersity of the single emulsion depends on the size of the horn-shaped microchannel unit.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a micro-fluidic chip prepared from a micro-array type emulsion.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the upper cover plate of a micro-fluidic chip prepared by the micro-array type emulsion.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a micro-channel array substrate for preparing a micro-fluidic chip by using the micro-array emulsion.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a micro-fluidic chip micro-channel array substrate prepared from the micro-array type emulsion.

FIG. 5 is a partial block diagram of a microchannel array.

FIG. 6 is a partial schematic view of a horn microchannel array.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of a trumpet-shaped microchannel.

In the figure: 1-upper cover plate; 2-discrete phase inlet; 3-a continuous phase inlet; 4-a microchannel array substrate; 5-gradient continuous phase microchannel; 6-gradient discrete phase microchannel; 7-a serpentine microchannel array; 8-single emulsion outlet; 9-a wedge-shaped protrusion; 10-horn microchannel; 11-upright placing a horn mouth; 12-connecting microchannels; 13-inverting the horn mouth; 14-boss, 15-continuous phase liquid inlet channel and 16-discrete phase liquid inlet channel.

Detailed Description

The present invention will be further described with reference to the following specific examples.

A micro-fluidic chip for preparing micro-array type emulsion comprises an upper cover plate 1 and a micro-channel array bottom plate 4, wherein the upper cover plate 1 is provided with two liquid inlet holes communicated to the micro-channel array bottom plate 4, and the two liquid inlet holes are respectively a discrete phase inlet 2 and a continuous phase inlet 3; the micro-channel array bottom plate 4 comprises a snake-shaped micro-channel array 7, the snake-shaped micro-channel array 7 is of a snake-shaped closed structure, and the inner side of the snake-shaped closed structure is enclosed into a region which is a gradient discrete phase micro-channel 6; the micro-channel array bottom plate 4 is provided with a boss 14 around the snake-shaped micro-channel array 7, and a spacing area is arranged between the boss 14 and the snake-shaped micro-channel array 7 and is a gradient continuous phase micro-channel 5; one end of the gradient discrete phase micro-channel 6 is provided with a discrete phase liquid inlet channel 16, and the end part of the discrete phase liquid inlet channel 16 corresponds to the position of the discrete phase inlet 2 of the upper cover plate 1; one end of the gradient continuous phase micro-channel 5 is provided with a continuous phase liquid inlet channel 15, and the end part of the continuous phase liquid inlet channel 15 corresponds to the position of the continuous phase inlet 3 of the upper cover plate 1; the snake-shaped micro-channel array 7 consists of a micro-channel array, a discrete phase is emulsified from the gradient discrete phase micro-channel 6 to the gradient continuous phase micro-channel 5 through the micro-channel array, and single emulsion is generated at high flux; the other end of the gradient continuous phase micro-channel 5 is a single emulsion outlet 8, and the single emulsion outlet 8 penetrates through a micro-channel array bottom plate boss 14 and is used for leading out the generated single emulsion.

The snake-shaped micro-channel array 7 takes a micro-channel array as a basic unit and is constructed by continuous distribution; the micro-channel array comprises wedge-shaped bulges 9 which are adjacently arranged and horn-shaped micro-channels 10 between the wedge-shaped bulges 9, wherein the horn-shaped micro-channels 10 are communicated with gradient discrete-phase micro-channels 6 and gradient continuous-phase micro-channels 5.

Horn form microchannel 10 both ends be loudspeaker column structure, upright horn mouth 11 and the lower extreme of putting including the upper end invert horn mouth 13, upright horn mouth 11 with invert between the horn mouth 13 and link to each other through connecting microchannel 12.

The depth H of the gradient discrete phase micro-channel 6 is the same as that of the gradient continuous phase micro-channel 5, wherein H is more than or equal to 150 mu m and less than or equal to 300 mu m.

The depth H of the gradient discrete phase micro-channel 6 and the gradient continuous phase micro-channel 5 is larger than the depth of the horn-shaped micro-channel 10 in the micro-channel array.

The diffusion angle of the horn-shaped structure of the horn-shaped microchannel 10 is more than or equal to 30 degrees and less than or equal to 90 degrees.

H is more than or equal to 20 mu m and less than or equal to 60 mu m of the depth of the horn-shaped micro-channel 10, and w is more than or equal to 20 mu m and less than or equal to 60 mu m of the width.

The snake-shaped micro-channel array 7 is constructed by continuously and periodically distributing the horn-shaped micro-channels 10. The snake-shaped micro-channel array 7 is distributed between the gradient discrete phase micro-channel 6 and the gradient continuous phase, and the abrupt pressure gradient is constructed through the height gradient. The snake-shaped micro-channel array 7 can optimize the fluid distribution, and increase the number of the horn-shaped micro-channels 10 distributed between the gradient discrete phase micro-channel 6 and the gradient continuous phase micro-channel 5, thereby realizing the control of the generation number of the single emulsion in unit time.

When the liquid drops are in a stable state in the process of generating the single emulsion, the internal pressure distribution of the single emulsion meets P_i＝P₀+ γ C, wherein, P_iFor discrete phase pressure, P₀Is the continuous phase pressure, gamma is the interfacial tension coefficient, and C is the curvature. In quasi-steady state conditions, flow-induced pressure changes are negligible, at which point P_i，P₀And gamma is a constant, then only the curvature C, where C ═ f (α, w, H), has an effect on the droplet size, thus it can be seen that the size of the single emulsion prepared by the micro-fluidic chip for preparing the microarray type emulsion is only related to the channel size parameter, therefore, the single emulsion with different sizes can be obtained only by regulating and controlling the channel size, and the monodispersity depends on the size of the horn-shaped micro-channel 10 unit.

The micro-fluidic chip prepared from the micro-array type emulsion can be used for preparing water-in-oil single emulsion and oil-in-water single emulsion by modifying the wettability of a micro-channel. Wherein, the preparation of the water-in-oil single emulsion requires the hydrophobic treatment of the horn-shaped micro-channel 10 array, the gradient discrete phase micro-channel 6 and the gradient continuous phase micro-channel 5; the preparation of the oil-in-water single emulsion requires hydrophilic treatment of the horn-shaped microchannel 10 array, the gradient discrete phase microchannel 6 and the gradient continuous phase microchannel 5. Wherein, aminosilane and carboxysilane can be used for carrying out hydrophilic treatment on the micro-channel, and fluorosilane can be used for carrying out hydrophobic treatment on the channel.

The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and should not be taken as limiting the invention in any way, and any person skilled in the art can make any simple modification, equivalent replacement, and improvement on the above embodiment without departing from the technical spirit of the present invention, and still fall within the protection scope of the technical solution of the present invention.