view article
Figure 3
Mixing lysozyme crystals in droplets. (a) High-speed microscopy frame of mixing during droplet generation and transport along the channel (droplets are colour-enhanced to aid observation of mixing). The mixing rates with and without crystals are the same. Analysis involved 12 droplets with crystals and 10 droplets without. (b) Dye and crystal mixing in droplets at a ratio of 0.3 with a droplet velocity of 300 mm s−1. Droplets containing crystals are highlighted with cyan circles. The mixing rate increases as the volume fraction of dye increases, with the optimal ratio being 0.5 (300 mm s−1 droplet velocity). The droplet pixel intensity CV is plotted as the mean ± SD for 15 droplets. (c) Dye and crystal mixing in droplets at the optimal 0.5 ratio with a droplet velocity of 300 mm s−1. The droplet pixel intensity CV is plotted as the mean ± SD for 15 droplets. Increasing velocity increases convection (circulations within droplets) and shrinks droplet volumes to reduce diffusion paths, with both causing faster mixing.

IUCrJ
Volume 11| Part 2| March 2024| Pages 237-248
ISSN: 2052-2525
https://doi.org/10.1107/S2052252524001799