Microfluidics is the science of systems that manipulate small amounts of fluids (between uL and fL), using channels with dimensions of tens to hundreds of microns. The reduced physical dimensions lead to laminar flows, guaranteeing optimum control of the flow properties and high reproducibility. Droplet microfluidics relies on the production of droplets with controlled size, where each droplet can be considered a small and independent reactor flowing in an immiscible liquid. Notably, droplet microfluidics is a rapidly growing interdisciplinary field of research combining soft matter physics, biochemistry and microsystems engineering. In our group, the activities in this area follow two main themes: dynamics of droplets in confined systems, and microfluidic devices for extracellular vesicles isolation and analysis. 

Droplet dynamics

Motion, recirculation and organization of droplets in microchannel depends on many parameters, including the film thickness surrounding the droplets, surface tension, presence of surfactants, channel roughness, etc. In the laboratory we study how these physical-chemistry aspects influence the droplet dynamics. link

Droplet dynamics

Motion, recirculation and organization of droplets in microchannel depends on many parameters, including the film thickness surrounding the droplets, surface tension, presence of surfactants, channel roughness, etc. In the laboratory we study how these physical-chemistry aspects influence the droplet dynamics. link