am9b08697_si_006.mp4 (381.22 kB)
Dual Droplet Functionality: Phototaxis and Photopolymerization
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posted on 2019-08-13, 18:09 authored by Sara Zarghami, Yang Xiao, Pawel Wagner, Larisa Florea, Dermot Diamond, David L. Officer, Klaudia WagnerThe
use of phototaxis to move droplets in liquids offers the opportunity
to emulate natural processes such as the controlled transport of materials
in fluidic environments and to undertake chemistry at specific locations.
We have developed a photoactive organic droplet, whose movement in
aqueous solution is driven by a photoinitiator, as a result of a light-induced
reaction within the droplet generating a Marangoni flow. The photoinitiator
not only drives the droplet motion but can also be used to initiate
polymerization following transfer of the droplet to a specific location
and its merging with a monomer-containing droplet. The same light
is used to control the transport of the droplet and the polymerization.
The efficacy of this droplet transport and reactor system has been
demonstrated by the site-specific underwater polymerization of N-isopropylacrylamide to repair a leaking vessel and the
adhesion of two materials together.