Collective Rayleigh-Plateau Instability: A Mimic of Droplet Breakup in High Internal Phase Emulsion

摘要: Using a microfluidic multi-inlet coflow system, we show the Rayleigh-Plateau instability of adjacent, closely spaced fluid threads to be collective. Although droplet size distributions and breakup frequencies are unaffected by cooperativity when identical, wavelengths between mismatched become locked due this collective instability. Locking narrows distribution drops that produced from dissimilar threads, thus polydispersity emulsion. These observations motivate hypothesized two-step mechanism for high internal phase emulsification, wherein coarse emulsion elongated into close-packed which break smaller droplets via Rayleigh Plateau Our results suggest these cooperatively, whereupon wavelength-locking reduces ultimate high-internal emulsions, consistent with experimental observations.