Drop transport and positioning on lubricant-impregnated surfaces

Hui Guan, Jian; Ruiz-Gutiérrez, Élfego; Xu, Ben Bin; Wood, David; McHale, Glen; Ledesma-Aguilar, Rodrigo; George Wells, Gary

Abstract

We demonstrate the transport and positioning of water droplets on macro-patterned lubricant-impregnated surfaces. The macro-patterning produces menisci features in the impregnating liquid layer which interact with a droplet via a capillary mechanism similar to the Cheerios effect. These interactions control the droplet motion and positioning on an otherwise completely slippery surface. We present experimental results using a V-shape channel geometry as a model system. The interaction between deformations on the lubricant layer induced by the droplet and the underlying V-shape geometry leads to both local and global equilibrium positions for the droplet within the channel. We present a mathematical model to quantify the transition from local equilibrium states to the global equilibrium state and show that the latter can be described on the basis of a force balance along the apparent contact line of the droplet. We highlight possible applications where lubricated macro-patterned surfaces can be used to control the motion and localisation of droplets.

Citation

Hui Guan, J., Ruiz-Gutiérrez, É., Xu, B. B., Wood, D., McHale, G., Ledesma-Aguilar, R., & George Wells, G. (2017). Drop transport and positioning on lubricant-impregnated surfaces. Soft Matter, 13(18), 3404-3410. https://doi.org/10.1039/c7sm00290d

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 4, 2017
• Online Publication Date: Apr 11, 2017
• Publication Date: Apr 11, 2017
• Deposit Date: Jun 12, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 4, 2018
• Journal: Soft Matter
• Print ISSN: 1744-683X
• Electronic ISSN: 1744-6848
• Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 13
• Issue: 18
• Pages: 3404-3410
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/c7sm00290d
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1385264