Drop Encapsulated in Bubble: A New Encapsulation Structure

A new fluid encapsulation structure, which is characterized by a bubble encapsulating a drop, is reported. It is stably generated from the breakup of a liquid column inside a bubble, which is achieved via the injection of Taylor flow into liquid. A model is constructed to explain the liquid column breakup mechanism. A dimensionless control guidance, which enables the possibility to create different-scale capsules, is provided. The encapsulation stability in external flows is verified, and a method to trigger the release of the encapsulated drop is provided, which supports potential applications with great advantages such as fluid transport.