Some variations provide an emulsion-colloid system for forming a colloidal barrier material disposed on a substrate, the system comprising a hydrophilic first liquid, an acid, a gelling agent, a hydrophobic second liquid, a plasticizer, and optionally additives, wherein the emulsion-colloid system is characterized by (1) a first instance that is a flowable emulsion above 60 C. and less than the boiling point of the first liquid, and (2) a second instance that is a colloid below 40 C. The emulsion-colloid system is capable of reversible transition, mediated by temperature, between the first instance and the second instance. The disclosed colloidal barrier material provides the functionality of plastic alternatives while removing disadvantages. The disclosed colloidal barrier material reduces labor-intensive application of the barrier, such as the case for covering grain piles with plastic tarps. The disclosed colloidal barrier material also eliminates the need for removal when barrier protection is no longer required.

Embodiments described herein may be useful for optofluidic devices. For example, optofluidic devices using dynamic fluid lens materials represent an ideal platform to create versatile, reconfigurable, refractive optical components. For example, the articles described herein may be useful as fluidic tunable compound micro-lenses. Such compound micro-lenses may be composed of two or more components (e.g., two or more inner phases) that form stable bi-phase emulsion droplets in outer phases (e.g., aqueous media). In some embodiments, the articles described herein may be useful as light emitting droplets. Advantageously, the plurality of droplets may be configured such that light rays may modified (e.g., via stimulation of the droplets, exposure to an analyte such as a pathogen) to have a detectable emission intensity and/or angle of maximum emission intensity under a particular set of conditions.

Droplet-based methods of analysis. In an exemplary method, a device having a port connected to a chamber may be selected. A sample-containing fluid may be placed into the port. A pressure differential may be created that drives the sample-containing fluid from the port to the chamber and separates the sample-containing fluid into droplets. A two-dimensional monolayer of the droplets may be formed in the chamber. At least a portion of the monolayer may be imaged.

A flow-through cavitation device having an elongated housing with an inlet and an outlet. One or more variable multi-jet nozzles are disposed throughout the elongated housing with a working chamber following each variable multi-jet nozzle. Each variable multi-jet nozzle consists of a movable disk fixedly mounted on a central shaft and a stationary disk fixedly mounted on the housing and in contact with the rotating disk. The movable and stationary disks of each variable multi-jet nozzle have through channels. The flow cross-sectional area of the through channels is variable by rotating the movable disk relative to the stationary disk.

A method for preparing stable liquid emulsion forms of plant extract is provided. A plant extract having a bitter flavor is mixed with diluent oil as an oil mixture and heat is applied to the oil mixture. An emulsifying agent is dispersed in water as an emulsifying solution. The oil mixture is mixed with the emulsifying solution. The mixed oil mixture and emulsifying solution is homogenized as a liquid form of the plant extract. Gluconic acid is added to the liquid form of the plant extract. The bitter flavor of the plant extract is disguised by adding a bitter blocker to the liquid form of the plant extract.

Embodiments of the present application relate to batches of bupivacaine multivesicular liposomes (MVLs) prepared by a commercial manufacturing process using independently operating dual tangential flow filtration modules.

The present invention discloses a method for preparing a micro-channel array plate, comprising the steps of: (1) arranging a first optical fiber glass rod and a second optical fiber glass rod closely, melting the two glass rods into a whole at a high temperature to obtain a melted glass rod, drawing the melted glass rod at least one time into a longer and thinner glass rod than the melted glass rod, and cutting the drawn glass rod into small pieces to obtain a micro-channel array plate blank, wherein the corrosion resistance of the first optical fiber glass rod and the second optical fiber glass rod to the same corrosive liquid is different; (2) corroding the micro-channel array plate blank by a corrosive liquid to obtain a micro-channel array plate crude product with through holes; and (3) conducting hydrophobic treatment on the micro-channel array plate crude product to obtain the micro-channel array plate.

The invention describes a method for the identification of compounds which bind to a target component of a biochemical system or modulate the activity of the target, comprising the steps of: a) compartmentalising the compounds into microcapsules together with the target, such that only a subset of the repertoire is represented in multiple copies in any one microcapsule; and b) identifying the compound which binds to or modulates the activity of the target; wherein at least one step is performed under microfluidic control. The invention enables the screening of large repertoires of molecules which can serve as leads for drug development.

Certain embodiments are directed to finite step emulsification device and/or methods that combine finite step emulsification with gradients of confinement for the formation of a 2D monolayer array of droplets with low size dispersion.

An emulsion and system for catalytic pyrolysis can include a mixture of 100 parts by weight heavy oil, 5 to 100 parts by weight water, and 1 to 20 parts by weight solid catalyst particulates, which can include an oxide or acid addition salt of a Group 3-16 metal on a mineral support, such as ferric chloride on bentonite. Also, a pyrolysis system can include a charge of the emulsion, a transfer line to supply the emulsion to a pyrolysis chamber, a combustion gas source to supply a combustion gas to heat the pyrolysis chamber, a control system to maintain the pyrolysis chamber at a temperature, pressure and residence time to form a pyrolyzate vapor phase, and a vapor line to receive the pyrolyzate vapor phase from the pyrolysis chamber.