SANS-on-a-chip: in-situ monitoring of micro-emulsification process and flow-induced structural change in microfluidics

The commonly observed Winsor microemulsions can exist in equilibrium with excess oil, water, or both, which are labeled Winsor I, II, and III microemulsions, corresponding to oil-in-water (O/W), water-in-oil (W/O), and bicontinuous microstructure, respectively. While the equilibrium microstructures of microemulsions have been thoroughly investigated, the real-time structural changes of surfactant assemblies after oil-water interaction remain unexplored. Specifically, whether these structures alter during percolating in porous media is yet to be elucidated. Our proposed work aims to study the formation process of three kinds of microemulsions and the influence of flow on the microstructure using newly-developed microfluidic-SANS.