Advances in Microscale Droplet Generation and Manipulation

Abstract

Microscale droplet generation and manipulation have widespread applications in numerous fields, from biochemical assays to printing and additive manufacturing. There are several techniques for droplet handling. Most techniques, however, can generate and work with only a limited range of droplet sizes. Furthermore, there are constraints regarding the workable variety of fluid properties (e.g., viscosity, surface tension, mass loading, etc.). Recent works have focused on developing techniques to overcome these limitations. This feature article discusses advances in this area that cover a wide range of droplet sizes from subpicoliter to microliter.