Microfluidic Production of Monodisperse Silicone Microparticles for Oxygen-sensing

Here we describe a novel approach to generate monodisperse silicone microdroplets via microfluidic based microemulsion. Through a flow-focusing configuration, a continuous flow of commercially available silicone precursor solution has been successfully dispersed into discrete microdroplets with narrow size distribution, which are future solidified into stable microparticles by subsequent thermal curing. As a proof-of-concept demonstration of their superior capabilities, we also integrate a type of oxygen dye into these silicone microbeads and apply these microparticles as non-invasive and real time oxygen sensors.