Microparticles and microcapsules templated by microfluidic emulsions hold significant promise for applications in the pharmaceutical, food, and cosmetic industries. While microfluidics enables the generation of highly uniform emulsion droplets, this uniformity is often compromised during downstream processing—particularly solvent removal, which is typically carried out off-chip using bulk methods. Efficient and controlled solvent removal is essential for optimizing encapsulation performance and particle stability. This study investigates the use of a sliding film evaporator (SFE) to achieve controlled solvent evaporation from microfluidic droplets during dynamic transport. The SFE allows emulsion droplets to slide down an inclined, heated surface, forming a thin film that enhances heat and mass transfer, accelerating solvent evaporation while minimizing shear-induced deformation. We show that both single and double emulsions undergo efficient solvent removal in the SFE, while investigating the effect of temperature and co-solvents on the evaporation rates and resulting microcapsule structures. These findings highlight the potential of SFEs as a scalable, continuous alternative to batch evaporation techniques, providing precise control over solvent removal kinetics. This work advances the understanding of film-based evaporative techniques for emulsion processing and supports their integration into industrial encapsulation workflows.
