Robert F. Shepherd1, Jacinta C. Conrad1, Summer K. Rhodes1, Darren R. Link2, David A. Weitz3, Manuel Marquez4, and Jennifer A. Lewis1. (1) University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, (2) RainDance Technologies, Inc., Guilford, CT, (3) Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, (4) Phillip Morris USA, Richmond, VA
The microfluidic assembly and packing of colloid-filled hydrogel drops and dried granules of varying shape and composition is investigated. Drops are formed by shearing a concentrated colloidal microsphere-acrylamide suspension in a continuous oil phase using a sheath-flow or a double emulsion capillary device. Silica microspheres are synthesized with different fluorescent cores to allow direct visualization of the process. Homogenous and Janus (hemispherically distinct) spheres and disks are produced by confining the assembled drops in microchannels of prescribed geometry. To preserve their drop structure, photopolymerization of an acrylamide-based hydrogel solution is carried out immediately after drop-breakup. Representative drops and dried granules are imaged using fluorescence and scanning electron microscopy to probe their structural evolution during assembly and drying, while micro-CT is used to probe granular packing. Our approach opens up new opportunities for precision engineering of colloidal granule size, shape, and composition.