Application Cases

Microdroplet-based microfluidic technology has become a versatile tool with widespread applications in biochemical analysis and synthesis, among other fields. The generation and manipulation of microdroplets are fundamental to these applications. Acoustic-based microdroplet manipulation technology has demonstrated advantages in terms of good biocompatibility and wide-range adjustability.

Recently, a research team from the School of Mechanical Engineering at Shanghai Jiao Tong University conducted relevant research on droplet microfluidics in the above direction. The research results were published in the international journal PHYSICAL REVIEW APPLIED in the field of physics and astrophysics. Today, Aigtek will share this in depth.

Experiment Name: Application of the ATA-1372A Broadband Amplifier in the Microdroplet Preparation System of Ultrasonic Driven Nozzle

Experiment Direction: Droplet Microfluidics

Experimental Equipment: ATA-1372A broadband amplifier, high-speed camera, signal generator, oscilloscope, upper computer, etc.

Experiment Content: This experiment designed an ultrasonic driven nozzle system integrated with high-throughput microdroplet preparation and directional allocation functions. The working mechanism of the system was analyzed through simulation and experiments, providing new ideas for the design of highly integrated and controllable microdroplet manipulation systems.

Experiment Process:

The ultrasonic driven nozzle system mainly consists of a capillary nozzle, a PZT transducer, a broadband amplifier, and a signal source. When the PZT transducer is applied with an AC electrical signal, the transducer generates sound waves, which are transmitted through the capillary to the nozzle tip, and the liquid in the nozzle is ejected. When the modulated pulse sound waves are transmitted to the liquid phase, they generate intermittent acoustic flow. At this time, controlling the driving time of the sound waves can regulate the amount of water flowing out of the nozzle, that is, the size of the droplets formed.

At the same time, when the input frequency changes, the nozzle vibrates in different modes, thereby generating different forms of acoustic flow in different directions. By applying acoustic flow in different directions to droplets, they can be guided to corresponding positions.

Experiment Results:

In addition to the ultrasonic driving time, the size of the droplets may also be determined by the driving amplitude. Therefore, by controlling the driving time and amplitude to comprehensively regulate the size of the droplets, a wide-range, high-throughput droplet preparation system was realized. In addition to generating droplets, controllable acoustic flow can also be used to guide droplets to different positions.

By changing the input acoustic wave frequency, the movement direction of the droplets can be changed from left to right. At different frequencies, the nozzle vibrates in different modes, thereby generating corresponding fluid states. Based on this mechanism, we can control the allocation of droplets to different chambers by adjusting the acoustic wave frequency.

Specifications of the ATA-1372A Broadband Amplifier used in the experiment: