Facile hydrodynamic cavitation on chip via cellulose nanofibers stabilized perfluorodroplets inside layer-by-layer assembled slips surfaces

Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2019.122809

The tremendous potential of “hydrodynamic cavitation on microchips” has been highlighted during recent years in various applications. Cavitating flow patterns, substantially depending upon thermophysical and geometrical characteristics, promote diverse industrial and engineering applications, including food and biomedical treatment. Highly vaporous and fully developed patterns in microfluidic devices are of particular interest. In this study, the potential of a new approach, which includes cellulose nanofiber (CNF)- stabilized perfluorodroplets (PFC5s), was assessed inside microfluidic devices. The surfaces of these devices were modified by assembling various sizes of silica nanoparticles, which facilitated in the generation of cavitation bubbles. To examine the pressure effects on the stabilized droplets in the microfluidic devices, the upstream pressure was varied, and the cavitation phenomenon was characterized under different experimental conditions. The results illustrate generation of interesting, fully developed, cavitating flows at low pressures for the stabilized droplets, which has not been previously observed in the literature. Supercavitation flow pattern, filling the entire microchannel, were recorded at the upstream pressure of 1.7 MPa for the case of CNF-stabilized PFC5s, which hardly corresponds to cavitation inception for pure water in the same microfluidic device.