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Published on: November 10, 2014
Spontaneous directional transportations of water droplets on surfaces driven by gradient structures
1Hubei Collaborative Innovation Centre for Advanced Organic Chemical Materials and Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for the Green Preparation and Application of Functional Materials, Hubei University, Wuhan 430062, People's Republic of China and State Key Laboratory of Solid Lubrication, Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, People's Republic of China. zguo@licp.cas.cn.
Abstract:
Spontaneous directional transportation of droplets on solid surfaces driven by structure gradients has attracted much attention due to its large-scale applications, such as heat transfer, microfluidic devices, water collection, and separation. It also provides new insight for theoretical research into the interactions between droplets and solid surfaces. This review article summarizes recent progress in the spontaneous directional transportation of droplets on surfaces with structure gradients. Currently, surfaces with structure gradients can be divided into three types: wedge corners with a gradient opening angle, wedge-shaped surfaces, and conical substrates. This review focuses on their basic theory, detailed transport processes, fabrication methods, influence factors and application development. Finally, a perspective of this mode of transportation for future development is proposed.
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