Surface roughness-hydrophobicity coupling in microchannel and nanochannel flows

Area of Science:

• Multiphase flow dynamics
• Nanofluidics
• Computational physics

Background:

• Understanding fluid behavior in nano- and microdevices is crucial for technological advancements.
• Existing continuum methods often lack the computational efficiency to capture essential fluid-solid interactions at the nanoscale.
• Wetting-dewetting transitions and surface properties significantly influence flow characteristics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a novel lattice Boltzmann method for simulating multiphase flows in nanocorrugated devices.
• To investigate the interplay of hydrophobicity and roughness on fluid flow in microchannels.
• To demonstrate the method's ability to retain supramolecular details while enhancing computational efficiency.

Main Methods:

• Development of a lattice Boltzmann kinetic equation approach for multiphase flows.
• Specialization of the method to analyze wetting-dewetting transitions on nanoscopic grooves.
• Analysis of conspiring effects between surface hydrophobicity and roughness on mass flow rate.

Main Results:

• The proposed method efficiently captures essential fluid-solid interactions at the nanoscale.
• Smart surfaces can be engineered to achieve tunable mass throughput by altering bulk pressure.
• Quantitative validation against molecular dynamics simulations confirms the method's accuracy.

Conclusions:

• The lattice Boltzmann approach offers a computationally efficient and accurate tool for studying multiphase flows in nanodevices.
• Surface engineering, combining hydrophobicity and roughness, provides a powerful strategy for controlling fluid transport.
• This work facilitates the design of advanced microfluidic and nanofluidic systems.