Abstract
This paper describes an experimental study on the droplet formation and the subsequent motion in a microchannel having a cross junction. While one kind of liquid (pure water or water-surfactant mixture) is drawn into a horizontal inlet channel, the other kind (oil) is introduced through two vertical inlet channels. Due to the effect of surface tension on the interface between the two fluids, the droplets of the first fluid are formed near the cross junction. In this study, we have found that the droplet formation is affected even by slight difference in the surface tension. When the surface tension between two fluids is decreased, the droplet size is decreased in order to keep the equilibration between the pressure and the surface tension. In addition, the time interval between each of the droplet formations is decreased and the distance between droplets is also decreased when the surface tension is decreased.