Voltage-induced spreading and superspreading of liquids

The ability to quickly spread a liquid across a surface and form a film is fundamental for a diverse range of technological processes, including printing, painting and spraying. We show that liquid dielectrophoresis or electrowetting can produce wetting on normally non-wetting surfaces, without needing modification of the surface topography or chemistry. Additionally, super-spreading can be achieved without needing surfactants in the liquid. We use a modified Hoffman-de Gennes law to predict three distinct spreading regimes: (i) exponential approach to an equilibrium shape, (ii) spreading to complete wetting obeying a Tanner’s law-type relationship, and (iii) superspreading towards a complete wetting film. We demonstrate quantitative experimental agreement with these predictions using dielectrophoresis induced spreading of stripes of 1,2 propylene glycol. Our findings show how the rate of spreading of a partial wetting system can be controlled using uniform and non-uniform electric fields and how to induce more rapid super-spreading using voltage control.