Agarose Bead Synthesis - A Microfluidic Route for the Production of Micron Sized Agarose Hydrogel Beads

This application note describes the generation of agarose droplets at elevated temperature and subsequent cooling to form solid microparticles. The highest droplet generate rate is 2800 droplets per second corresponding to a droplet diameter of ~ 60 μm.

The system is based around a standard hydrophobic droplet junction chip. Flows rates are controlled via Dolomite P-Pumps providing smooth pulseless flow. Droplet size and droplet generation frequency are inter-related and used to define the operating limits of the system. Temperature and concentration variations shift the operating limits as demonstrated in the following note.