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High Speed Droplet-based Delivery System for Passive Pumping in Microfluidic Devices

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Boosting Droplet Transport for Fog Harvest.

Qianqin Zhang^1,2, Siyu Wang^1,2, Jinlong Song³

¹College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 210016, China.

ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces

|October 30, 2024

Summary

Inspired by nature, new superhydrophilic tracks with optimized shapes achieve ultrafast, long-distance droplet transport. This breakthrough enhances water collection and heat transfer for energy harvesting and microfluidic devices.

Keywords:

brachistochrone curve droplet transport fog harvest superwetting surfaces wedge tracks

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Area of Science:

Surface science and microfluidics
Biomimetic engineering and nanotechnology

Background:

Wedge-shaped superhydrophilic tracks are crucial for droplet transport in applications like energy harvesting and lab-on-a-chip devices.
Current methods face challenges in achieving ultrafast and long-distance droplet transport, limiting device performance.

Purpose of the Study:

To develop novel superhydrophilic patterns for enhanced droplet transport.
To overcome limitations in speed and distance for droplet manipulation.
To improve efficiency in water collection and heat transfer applications.

Main Methods:

Designed serial wedge-shaped superhydrophilic patterns inspired by cactus spines and spider silk.
Optimized track side edges using convex brachistochrone curves for acceleration.
Engineered junctions with concave brachistochrone curves to reduce energy barriers and minimize momentum loss.
Slenderized tracks to suppress liquid spreading and maintain Laplace driving force.

Main Results:

Achieved a maximum instantaneous droplet velocity of 207.7 mm/s and a transport distance of 120.5 mm.
Demonstrated controllable droplet volume by scaling the architecture.
Observed a 1.9-fold increase in water collection rate and a 12-fold increase in heat transfer coefficient in fog harvesting tests.

Conclusions:

The biomimetic, architecturally optimized superhydrophilic surfaces enable unprecedented droplet transport performance.
This scalable and fabricatable design offers a pathway for high-performance droplet manipulation.
Potential applications span energy harvesting, lab-on-a-chip systems, and MEMS.