Piezoelectric Droplet Generator for the Calibration of Particle-Sizing Instruments

Using a piezoceramic tube and a continuous glass capillary, droplets in a diameter range between 10 lm and 100 lm can be generated. This corresponds to a volume of up to 0.6 pl. The velocity of the generated droplets depends on droplet size but is constant for each diameter.Theliquidcanbedosedassingledroplet,asanaccumulationofdropletsorasachainofdropletsinafrequencyrangebetween 1Hzupto3kHz.Thelifetimeofthedropletsdependsondropletsizeandthechemicalandphysicalpropertiesofthedispersedliquid.In addition, for water droplets the humidity of the air near the droplet trajectory influences the lifetime of the droplets. 1