Temperature-responsive peristome-structured smart surface for the unidirectional controllable motion of large droplets

The manipulation of fast, unidirectional motion for large droplets shows important applications in the fields of fog collection and biochemical reactions. However, driving large droplets (>5 μL) to move directionally and quickly remains challenging due to the nonnegligible volume force. Herein, w...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Microsystems & nanoengineering 2023-09, Vol.9 (1), p.119-119, Article 119
Main Authors: Song, Yunyun, Yang, Jialei, Zhang, Xu, Zhang, Zhongqiang, Hu, Xinghao, Cheng, Guanggui, Liu, Yan, Lv, Guojun, Ding, Jianning
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
3-D printers
639/638
639/925/350/877
Bionics
Biosensors
Contact angle
Controllability
Droplets
Dynamic control
Engineering
Medical equipment
Movement
Substrates
Temperature
Three dimensional printing
Water drops
Wettability
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Summary:The manipulation of fast, unidirectional motion for large droplets shows important applications in the fields of fog collection and biochemical reactions. However, driving large droplets (>5 μL) to move directionally and quickly remains challenging due to the nonnegligible volume force. Herein, we fabricated a scalable, bionic peristome substrate with a microcavity width of 180 μm using a 3D printing method, which could unidirectionally drive a large water droplet (~8 μL) at a speed reaching 12.5 mm/s by temperature-responsive wettability. The substrate surface was grafted with PNIPAAm, which could reversibly change its wettability in response to temperature, thereby enabling a temperature-responsive smart surface that could regulate droplet movement in real-time by changing the temperature. A series of temperature-responsive smart patterns were designed to induce water transport along specific paths to further realize controllable droplet motion with the antibacterial treatment of predesignated areas. The ability to achieve temperature-responsive unidirectional motion and dynamic control of droplet movement could allow programmable fluidic biosensors and precision medical devices. A temperature-responsive smart surface was produced to control the unidirectional motion of large droplets between spreading and pinning movement by changing the surface wettability.
ISSN:2055-7434
2096-1030
2055-7434
DOI:10.1038/s41378-023-00573-5