Continuous microfluidic platforms for oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions for environmental monitoring applications

• Main Author: Das, Dhiman
• Other Authors: Yang Chun, Charles
• Format: Theses and Dissertations
• Language: English
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Chemical engineering
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/69079
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Microfluidic devices for fast on-chip diagnostic applications are of critical importance to environmental monitoring agencies. In this PhD thesis work, continuous flow based microfluidic platforms are designed and investigated for environmental monitoring applications with respect to oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions which are formed in an aftermath of oil spills due to the widespread use of surfactants. Moreover, the presence of toxic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) species, such as phenol in oil spills, is readily released by the smaller droplets with enhanced surface area to the surrounding vicinity. Hence, microfluidic devices for environmental monitoring applications such asdroplet-based liquid-liquid extraction of phenol from oil, detection and separation of micron-sized oil droplets from water and enrichment of ionic species (fluorescein dyes) in O/W emulsions have been investigated. The findings from these projects are expected to facilitate the development of microfluidic devices for O/W emulsion systems for emerging technologies concerning portable environmental diagnostic applications.