Cylindrical chains of water drops condensing on microstructured lubricant-infused surfacesElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/c6sm01883a

• Main Authors: Kajiya, Tadashi, Wooh, Sanghyuk, Lee, Yunchan, Char, Kookheon, Vollmer, Doris, Butt, Hans-Jürgen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1744-683X; 1744-6848
• DOI: 10.1039/c6sm01883a

We studied the condensation of water drops on a micro-structured lubricant-infused surfaces. Hierarchical micro-prism surfaces were fabricated by soft imprinting with wet TiO 2 nanoparticle paste. After hydrophobization, the patterned surfaces were infused with silicone oil as a lubricant. When cooling at high humidity (over 80%), water drops nucleate and start growing on the surface. Once they have reached a certain size, the drops at neighboring channels of the micro-prisms attract each other and spontaneously form cylindrical chains. These chains of drops align perpendicular to the prism array. The morphology and the length-to-width ratio of the chains of drops depend on the thickness of the lubricant layer. This new concept of water drop alignment on lubricant-infused surfaces offers a new route for pattern formation with condensed drops. Water condensing on a lubricant-infused surface with porous micro-prism patterns forms long chains of drops, caused by a long-range capillary attraction and topological confinement.