Non-linearity and dynamics of low-voltage electrowetting and dewetting

As an electrically controllable wetting effect, electrowetting on dielectrics (EWOD) is applied in diverse fields including optics, display technology and lab-on-a-chip systems. For the further development of EWOD applications, the reduction of the operation voltage is an essential issue. Recently,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical chemistry chemical physics : PCCP 2019-08, Vol.21 (33), p.1829-18299
Main Authors: Li, Ying-Jia, Echtermeyer, Danny, Cahill, Brian P, Pliquett, Uwe
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aqueous electrolytes
Deformation
Display devices
Droplets
Drying
Electric potential
Electrodes
Energy conversion efficiency
Linearity
Nonlinearity
On-line systems
Voltage
Wetting
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Summary:As an electrically controllable wetting effect, electrowetting on dielectrics (EWOD) is applied in diverse fields including optics, display technology and lab-on-a-chip systems. For the further development of EWOD applications, the reduction of the operation voltage is an essential issue. Recently, a low-voltage EWOD system with a threshold of 2 V was developed. In its sessile drop configuration, an aqueous electrolyte droplet with microliter scaled volume is actuated on an EWOD electrode in oil. The integration of this low-voltage EWOD system into a multiparameter measurement system enables the non-linearity and dynamics of the EWOD system to be online investigated during electrowetting and dewetting. The non-linearity was characterized by the hysteresis in the droplet deformation and that in the thickness variation of an oil layer, which is entrapped between the droplet and the electrode, in the nm range. The dynamics was evaluated with the characteristic time for the droplet deformation upon voltage jumps. This study of electrowetting and dewetting focuses on the conversion efficiency of the electrical energy in the deformation processes. Electrowetting and dewetting were studied for understanding electrical energy conversion in the deformation of an aqueous droplet on an oil layer.
ISSN:1463-9076
1463-9084
DOI:10.1039/c9cp02732g