Device for the production of capillary jets and micro-and nanometric particles
First Claim
1. A device used to produce steady capillary jets and liquid drops of at least one of micrometric and nanometric size, comprising:
- a plurality of fluids;
a plurality of concentrically arranged capillary tubes, wherein each capillary tube of said plurality of concentrically arranged capillary tubes is surrounded by and transports a fluid i selected from the plurality of fluids and having a flow-rate Qi,wherein i is an integer from 1 to N and N is equal to or greater than 1,wherein each said capillary tube of said plurality of concentrically arranged capillary tubes is connected to an electric potential Vi with respect to a ground electrode; and
wherein each fluid transported by a corresponding capillary tube is immiscible with an adjacent fluid transported by an adjacent capillary tube;
an electrode, connected to an electric potential V0, facing an outlet of a first capillary tube selected from the plurality of concentrically arranged capillary tubes, said electrode includes an orifice having a minimal transversal dimension D0 ranging from 10−
6 to 102 times a minimal transversal dimension D1 of an outlet section of an outermost capillary tube of the plurality of concentrically arranged capillary tubes;
said orifice is located facing an outlet of a second capillary tube selected from the plurality of concentrically arranged capillary tubes at a distance ranging from 0.005 to 5 times D1;
said electrode is shaped wherein each point of a surface of said electrode that is oriented toward said plurality of concentrically arranged capillary tubes is disposed a distance from the outer surface of the outermost capillary tube of the plurality of concentrically arranged capillary tubes, which is greater than a minimal distance from the orifice of said electrode to a capillary tube of the plurality of concentrically arranged capillary tubes having an outlet larger than outlets of all other capillary tubes of the plurality of concentrically arranged capillary tubes.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The invention relates to a method and devices for the production of capillary microjets and microparticles that can have a size of between hundreds of micrometers and several nanometers. The inventive method makes use of the combined effects of electrohydrodynamic forces, fluid-dynamic forces and a specific geometry in order to produce micro- and nano-capsules or fluid jets, single- or multi-component, which, upon disintegrating or splitting, form a significantly monodispersed spray of drops which have a controlled micro- or nanometric size and which can also comprise a specific internal structure, such as, for example, a nucleus which is surrounded by a cortex of a different substance or several concentric or non-concentric nuclei or vesicles which are surrounded by a cortex.
80 Citations
12 Claims
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1. A device used to produce steady capillary jets and liquid drops of at least one of micrometric and nanometric size, comprising:
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a plurality of fluids; a plurality of concentrically arranged capillary tubes, wherein each capillary tube of said plurality of concentrically arranged capillary tubes is surrounded by and transports a fluid i selected from the plurality of fluids and having a flow-rate Qi, wherein i is an integer from 1 to N and N is equal to or greater than 1, wherein each said capillary tube of said plurality of concentrically arranged capillary tubes is connected to an electric potential Vi with respect to a ground electrode; and wherein each fluid transported by a corresponding capillary tube is immiscible with an adjacent fluid transported by an adjacent capillary tube; an electrode, connected to an electric potential V0, facing an outlet of a first capillary tube selected from the plurality of concentrically arranged capillary tubes, said electrode includes an orifice having a minimal transversal dimension D0 ranging from 10−
6 to 102 times a minimal transversal dimension D1 of an outlet section of an outermost capillary tube of the plurality of concentrically arranged capillary tubes;
said orifice is located facing an outlet of a second capillary tube selected from the plurality of concentrically arranged capillary tubes at a distance ranging from 0.005 to 5 times D1;
said electrode is shaped wherein each point of a surface of said electrode that is oriented toward said plurality of concentrically arranged capillary tubes is disposed a distance from the outer surface of the outermost capillary tube of the plurality of concentrically arranged capillary tubes, which is greater than a minimal distance from the orifice of said electrode to a capillary tube of the plurality of concentrically arranged capillary tubes having an outlet larger than outlets of all other capillary tubes of the plurality of concentrically arranged capillary tubes. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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Specification