Soft Matter. 2017 May 14;13(18):3404-3410. doi: 10.1039/c7sm00290d. Epub 2017 Apr 21.

Drop transport and positioning on lubricant-impregnated surfaces.

Soft matter

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

PMID: 28429011 DOI: 10.1039/c7sm00290d

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.

Publication Types

• Journal Article