REPORT

The following are the additional projects I helped in during my

internship in Mcmaster University:

A) Double Emulsion Experiment:

The figure represents the 5 layers of the double emulsion device. The
designs are cut out on PMMA sheets using a laser cutter. The layers are
stuck to each other using 3M adhesive tapes.

The above image shows the formation of droplets inside another fluid.
The objective was to form Water in oil in water( W-O-W) double
emulsions. The inner and outer fluids used were DI water with
Tween-20(2%) and the middle fluid used was Mineral Oil with
SPAN(2%). In order to easily distinguish the various layers, the inner
water layer was coloured with methylene blue dye. The middle mineral
oil layer was colored with Oil Red dye and the outer water layer was
left colorless.
There are three syringe pumps used to inject the three liquids in their
respective inlets. There is a sink connected to the outlet. The flow rates
used for obtaining the above droplet were : Inner fluid-800
microlitre/hour, Middle fluid- 400 microlitre/hour and Outer fluid-2000
microlitre/hour.

Future work:
Until now it is possible to produce droplets inside only a single layer of
fluid. In order to form double emulsions, a new device can be designed
which uses hydrophobic and hydrophillic materials.
Also the fluid used for generating double emulsions can be changed
and some other surfactant additive can be used with the fluid.

B) Screening of C-Elegans Experiment:

Capturing efficiency which is defined as the number of worms captured
divided by the total number of worms that pass through is given by the
following mathematical formula:
Capturing Efficiency

Total worms captured

*100
Total worms that passed through

Flow
rate(microlit
re/hour)

Vacuum(V)

Total worms
captured

Total worms
sucked in

Total worms
that passed
through

Capturing
efficiency
(%)

3000

15

39

38.46

3000

24

41

58.5

3000

17

31

54.8

In this experiment a sample containing a number of C-elegans is

injected into the main channel of a device. Vacuum is applied through a
suction nozzle at the centre of the device. The objective is to suck the
incoming C-elegans and hold them for a while until the inlet and outlet
valves are closed. Then electrotaxis experiments can be conducted on
the C-elegans. The suction pressure must also not be so high that the
C-elegans are sucked into the suction nozzle. Experiments were
conducted keeping the flow rate constant at 3000 microlitre/hour but by
varying the vacuum pressure. It can be seen from the table that the
capturing efficiency is maximum for a vacuum corresponding to 6V.
Also as the vacuum pressure is decreased from 5V to 7V the number of

worms sucked in keeps increasing. This is not desirable.

C) Other work:
Apart from the above two projects the other things I learned during my
internship are:
1. LabView BootCamp Workshop.
2. AutoCAD modelling software.
3. Solidworks Modelling
4. Finished safety training(whmis core, fire safety, chemical handling
and spills, hydrogen fluoride, ergonomics, slips trips and falls)
5. Finished CEDT-Basics Intro training.