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Engineered Switchable-Wettability Surfaces for Multi-Path Directional Transportation of Droplets and Subaqueous
Dongdong Xie1,2, Yunna Sun1, Yongjin Wu1,2
1National Key Laboratory of Science and Technology on Micro/Nano Fabrication, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China.
Advanced Materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.)
|November 24, 2022
Summary
Researchers developed a universal strategy for programmable fluid transport on a novel surface. This method enables efficient, robust manipulation of both liquid droplets and gas bubbles, paving the way for advanced microfluidic devices.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Fluid Dynamics
- Surface Chemistry
Background:
- Conventional engineered surfaces have fixed wettability, limiting them to single-phase fluid transport.
- Robust fluid transport systems that tolerate path defects are not fully developed.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a universal wettability switching strategy for programmable, directional transport of both liquid droplets and subaqueous bubbles.
- To create a robust, efficient, and cost-effective fluid transport system.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a dumbbell-patterned functional surface (DPFS).
- Tuned superwettability via octadecyltrichlorosilane treatment and ultraviolet-C selective irradiation.
- Leveraged surface energy differences for fluid propulsion within the patterned surface.
Main Results:
- Achieved programmable directional transport of both droplets and subaqueous bubbles.
- Demonstrated strong robustness against path defects due to multiple channels and ultralow-volume-loss transport.
- Successfully demonstrated spatially-selective cooling devices and subaqueous gas microreactors.
Conclusions:
- The developed strategy enables on-chip programmable manipulation of two-phase fluids.
- This energy-consumption-free system opens new avenues for microfluidics and related applications.
- The switchable superwettability of DPFS is key to regulating fluid dynamics for complex tasks.
