Custom tailoring multiple droplets one-by-one.

Abstract

We report automated generation of arbitrary sequences of multiple microdroplets with online and individual control over the number of cores and volumes of all the constituents (cores and shells) of each of the multiple droplets. We show that a given sequence of volumes of the cores always folds to the same final three-dimensional architecture. The method presents the first proof-of-concept for the ability to design the three-dimensional structure of multiple droplets. We discuss the potential use of the technique in the formulation of predetermined distribution of drug release capsules and for automated generation of functional chemical microdroplet networks.