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Updated: Jun 21, 2025

Scalable Stamp Printing and Fabrication of Hemiwicking Surfaces
Published on: December 18, 2018
'Rewritable' and 'liquid-specific' recognizable wettability pattern
Manideepa Dhar1, Debasmita Sarkar1, Avijit Das1
1Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology-Guwahati, Guwahati, Assam, 781039, India.
Abstract:
Bio-inspired surfaces with wettability patterns display a unique ability for liquid manipulations. Sacrificing anti-wetting property for confining liquids irrespective of their surface tension (γLV), remains a widely accepted basis for developing wettability patterns. In contrast, we introduce a 'liquid-specific' wettability pattern through selectively sacrificing the slippery property against only low γLV (<30 mN m-1) liquids. This design includes a chemically reactive crystalline network of phase-transitioning polymer, which displays an effortless sliding of both low and high γLV liquids. Upon its strategic chemical modification, droplets of low γLV liquids fail to slide, rather spill arbitrarily on the tilted interface. In contrast, droplets of high γLV liquids continue to slide on the same modified interface. Interestingly, the phase-transition driven rearrangement of crystalline network allows to revert the slippery property against low γLV liquids. Here, we report a 'rewritable' and 'liquid-specific' wettability pattern for high throughput screening, separating, and remoulding non-aqueous liquids.
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