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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 February 2011
We present a continuous flow scheme to produce hierarchically organized large emulsions and particles with very good control over size, shape and internal structure. By assembling together elementary co-axial flow modules and integrating their corresponding functions, modular set-ups can be designed “on demand” to engineer complex architectures in characteristic sizes ranging from 50 micrometers up to a few mm. The high potentiality of this approach stems from the continuous production of drops and the ability to manipulate and functionalize each one independently “on line”. Its great versatility is limited only by the number of combinations possible using the modular tool box and one's imagination. We illustrate this through the encapsulation of droplets or solid particles of various shapes, composition and size,in liquid or solidified drops as well as the formation of large organic or inorganic cylindrical particles.