Self-propelled droplet transport on shaped-liquid surfaces

Gaby Launay; Muhammad Subkhi Sadullah; Glen McHale; Rodrigo Ledesma-Aguilar; Halim Kusumaatmaja; Gary G. Wells

doi:10.1038/s41598-020-70988-x

Self-propelled droplet transport on shaped-liquid surfaces

Gaby Launay, Muhammad Subkhi Sadullah, Glen McHale, Rodrigo Ledesma-Aguilar, Halim Kusumaatmaja, Gary G. Wells^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Mathematics, Physics and Electrical Engineering

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

35 Citations (Scopus)

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Abstract

The transport of small amounts of liquids on solid surfaces is fundamental for microfluidics applications. Technologies allowing control of droplets of liquid on flat surfaces generally involve the generation of a wettability contrast. This approach is however limited by the resistance to motion caused by the direct contact between the droplet and the solid. We show here that this resistance can be drastically reduced by preventing direct contact with the help of dual-length scale micro-structures and the concept of “liquid-surfaces”. These new surfaces allow the gentle transport of droplets along defined paths and with fine control of their speed. Moreover, their high adhesion permits the capture of impacting droplets, opening new possibilities in applications such as fog harvesting and heat transfer.

Original language	English
Article number	14987
Pages (from-to)	1-8
Number of pages	8
Journal	Scientific Reports
Volume	10
Issue number	1
Early online date	11 Sept 2020
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-70988-x
Publication status	Published - 1 Dec 2020

Keywords

physics.flu-dyn
cond-mat.soft

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1038/s41598-020-70988-xLicence: CC BY

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Cite this

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AU - Launay, Gaby

AU - Sadullah, Muhammad Subkhi

AU - McHale, Glen

AU - Ledesma-Aguilar, Rodrigo

AU - Kusumaatmaja, Halim

AU - Wells, Gary G.

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N2 - The transport of small amounts of liquids on solid surfaces is fundamental for microfluidics applications. Technologies allowing control of droplets of liquid on flat surfaces generally involve the generation of a wettability contrast. This approach is however limited by the resistance to motion caused by the direct contact between the droplet and the solid. We show here that this resistance can be drastically reduced by preventing direct contact with the help of dual-length scale micro-structures and the concept of “liquid-surfaces”. These new surfaces allow the gentle transport of droplets along defined paths and with fine control of their speed. Moreover, their high adhesion permits the capture of impacting droplets, opening new possibilities in applications such as fog harvesting and heat transfer.

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Self-propelled droplet transport on shaped-liquid surfaces

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

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