Shear-thinning rheology and geometric asymmetry govern droplet dynamics in branched microchannels

Soft Matter 2026

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Authors: Rakesh Kumar, Rajaram Lakkaraju, Arnab Atta
DOI: 10.1039/d5sm00957j
Cited by: 1
References: 57

Abstract

, droplet volumes grew while front-tip velocities declined, demonstrating the coupled effect of rheology on both size and transport. Velocity fields further confirmed flatter core profiles in shear-thinning systems, characteristic of power-law fluids, in contrast to the parabolic distributions observed for Newtonian flows. Collectively, the results establish how shear-thinning rheology and downstream asymmetry interact to control droplet breakup and partitioning, offering design principles for predictive scaling in multiphase microfluidics.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Innovative Microfluidic and Catalytic Techniques Innovation Fluid Dynamics and Thin Films Fluid Dynamics and Heat Transfer

Publication details

Journal / source
Soft Matter
Publisher
Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)
Volume
22
Issue
8
Pages
1797–1808
Publication date
1 January 2026
Language
EN