Raman spectroscopic monitoring of droplet polymerization in a microfluidic device

Microfluidic methodologies are becoming increasingly important for rapid formulation and screening of materials, and development of analytical tools for multiple sample screening is a critical step in achieving a combinatorial ‘lab on a chip’ approach. This work demonstrates the application of Raman spectroscopy for analysis of monomer composition and degree of conversion of methacrylate-based droplets in a microfluidic device. Droplet formation was conducted by flow focusing on the devices, and a gradient of component composition was created by varying the flow rates of the droplet-phase fluids into the microchannels. Raman data were collected using a fiber optic probe from a stationary array of the droplets/particles on the device, followed by partial least squares (PLS) calibration of the first derivative (1600 cm−1 to 1550 cm−1) allowing successful measurement of monomer composition with a standard error of calibration (SEC) of ±1.95% by volume. Following photopolymerization, the percentage of double bond conversion of the individual particles was calculated from the depletion of the normalized intensity of the CC stretching vibration at 1605 cm−1. Raman data allowed accurate measurement of the decrease in double bond conversion as a function of increasing crosslinker concentration. The results from the research demonstrate that Raman spectroscopy is an effective, on-chip analytical tool for screening polymeric materials on the micrometre scale.