Prompting droplet breakup by imposing an electric field

Various means for manipulating droplets based on pressure, magnetic, optical, or other external fields have emerged. Despite the remarkable progress, the existing modalities of droplet formation control and manipulation still deserve further investigations, especially for the utilization of biodiesel. Here, we report a method for droplet manipulation using electric fields to achieve improved uniformity of droplet distribution, continuity, and stability of droplet generation. Leveraging on the weakening of surface tension by electric stress could manipulate the droplet size, generation period, and departure rate. When the applied voltage is 4 kV, the droplet size and formation time were reduced by 50% and 7.83 times, respectively. Furthermore, we utilized ethanol with lower surface tension and higher electrical conductivity to improve the response of biodiesel to the electric field, which reduced the droplet breakup time by 211.67 times. Among them, the electric field had the most significant effect on promoting the breakup of BE10. In addition, the effects of electrode structure and flow rate on droplet breakup in the electric field are also considered. These findings provide a satisfactory paradigm for droplet operation in various practical applications.