Mechano-regulated surface for manipulating liquid droplets

Xin Tang, Pingan Zhu, Ye Tian, Xuechang Zhou, Tiantian Kong () and Liqiu Wang ()
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Xin Tang: the University of Hong Kong
Pingan Zhu: the University of Hong Kong
Ye Tian: the University of Hong Kong
Xuechang Zhou: College of Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Shenzhen University
Tiantian Kong: HKU-Zhejiang Institute of Research and Innovation (HKU-ZIRI)
Liqiu Wang: the University of Hong Kong

Nature Communications, 2017, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract The effective transfer of tiny liquid droplets is vital for a number of processes such as chemical and biological microassays. Inspired by the tarsi of meniscus-climbing insects, which can climb menisci by deforming the water/air interface, we developed a mechano-regulated surface consisting of a background mesh and a movable microfibre array with contrastive wettability. The adhesion of this mechano-regulated surface to liquid droplets can be reversibly switched through mechanical reconfiguration of the microfibre array. The adhesive force can be tuned by varying the number and surface chemistry of the microfibres. The in situ adhesion of the mechano-regulated surface can be used to manoeuvre micro-/nanolitre liquid droplets in a nearly loss-free manner. The mechano-regulated surface can be scaled up to handle multiple droplets in parallel. Our approach offers a miniaturized mechano-device with switchable adhesion for handling micro-/nanolitre droplets, either in air or in a fluid that is immiscible with the droplets.

Date: 2017
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms14831

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