The geometry of droplet formation channels has a great effect on the generated droplet parameters; therefore, geometry modification on these channels leads to develop droplet formation chip that produces smaller size micro-droplet with high-throughput. In addition, the fabrication technique and raw material are essential to reduce cost and fabrication time. In this paper, a geometry modification on double T-Junction channel has been done in which the channel inlets angels are modified, and the effect of the modification on droplet size, droplets distribution inside the channel, and its throughput are presented. In this study, a 2D simulation has been done to show the results of the channel geometry modification.
These results lead to fabricate micro-channel using (poly methyl methacrylate) PMMA material with direct write laser technique by VERSA ?CO?_2 laser VLS3.5 commercial machine, with 100?m accuracy. Ease and low cost to fabricate which eliminating the need for a mask and clean room environment in addition to shortening the development cycle. It takes only 20 minutes for fabrication and bonding. The minimum generating droplet diameter is within 40?m inside the channel with throughput about 1000 droplets per second and channel width about 150?m after bonding. Our device is a high-throughput, programmable, low cost micro-droplet formation device aimed to be as a front-end to a droplet digital PCR platform for use in resource limited environment; hence, there is no need for sterilization as the chip could be a single-use.
