A versatile multilayer liquid-liquid encapsulation technique

TL;DR

This paper introduces a versatile multilayer liquid-liquid encapsulation method using a Y-junction droplet generator, enabling stable multi-layer encapsulation with various liquids, including ferrofluids, and analyzing the dynamics with high-speed imaging.

Contribution

The study presents a novel impact-driven technique for multi-layer encapsulation that overcomes previous kinetic energy limitations, demonstrated with multiple liquid types and extended to triple layers.

Findings

Effective protection of inner core by multilayer shells.

Established non-dimensional regime for successful encapsulation.

Confirmed multilayer structure with fluorescent tagging.

Abstract

Hypothesis: Generating multi-layer cargo using conventional methods is challenging. We hypothesize that incorporating a Y-junction compound droplet generator to encase a target core inside a second liquid can circumvent the kinetic energy dependence of the impact-driven liquid-liquid encapsulation technique, enabling minimally restrictive multi-layer encapsulation. Experiments: Stable wrapping is obtained by impinging a compound droplet (generated using Y-junction) on an interfacial layer of another shell-forming liquid floating on a host liquid bath, leading to double-layered encapsulation. The underlying dynamics of the liquid-liquid interfaces are captured using high-speed imaging. To demonstrate the versatility of the technique, we used various liquids as interfacial layers, including magnetoresponsive oil-based ferrofluids. Moreover, we extended the technique to triple-layered encapsulation by overlaying a second interfacial layer atop the first floating interfacial layer. Findings: The encapsulating layer(s) effectively protects the water-soluble inner core (ethylene glycol) inside the water bath. A non-dimensional experimental regime is established for successful encapsulation in terms of the impact kinetic energy, interfacial layer thickness, and the viscosity ratio of the interfacial layer and the outer core liquid. Using selective fluorescent tagging, we confirm the presence of individual shell layers wrapped around the core, which presents a promising pathway to visualize the internal morphology of final encapsulated droplets.