Mechanical Characterization of Ultralow Interfacial Tension Oil-in-Water Droplets by Thermal Capillary Wave Analysis in a Microfluidic Device

Measurements of the ultralow interfacial tension and surfactant film bending rigidity for micron-sized heptane droplets in bis(2-ethylhexyl) sodium sulfosuccinate–NaCl aqueous solutions were performed in a microfluidic device through the analysis of thermally driven droplet interface fluctuations. The Fourier spectrum of the stochastic droplet interface displacement was measured through bright-field video microscopy and a contour analysis technique. The droplet interfacial tension, together with the surfactant film bending rigidity, was obtained by fitting the experimental results to the prediction of a capillary wave model. Compared to existing methods for ultralow interfacial tension measurements, this contactless, nondestructive, all-optical approach has several advantages, such as fast measurement, easy implementation, cost-effectiveness, reduced amount of liquids, and integration into lab-on-a-chip devices.