Understanding the Physics of Droplet Electrocoalescence in a Microtrap

Droplet-based microfluidic systems are emerging as an ideal platform for the high-throughput screening of eukaryotic cells aimed to understand the complex, multidimensional, and dynamic biological processes . Here, two aqueous droplets – each containing a eukaryotic cell – suspended in oil media are captured in a hydrodynamic microtrap and then merged with one another using the well-known electrocoalescence process for conducting downstream cell-based analyses such as studying biological cell-cell interactions. In this work, through extensive COMSOL Multiphysics® simulations, we conducted a parametric study to analyze the effect of fluid surface tension and droplet gap on the aqueous droplet coalescence in the hydrodynamic microtraps