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Surface-Tension-Confined Channel with Biomimetic Microstructures for Unidirectional Liquid Spreading
Unidirectional liquid spreading without energy input is of significant interest for the broad applications in diverse fields such as water harvesting, drop transfer, oil–water separation and microfluidic devices. However, the controllability of liquid motion and the simplification of manufacturing p...
Autores principales: | , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
MDPI
2020
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7692703/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33143205 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/mi11110978 |
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author | Zhang, Yi Gan, Yang Zhang, Liwen Zhang, Deyuan Chen, Huawei |
author_facet | Zhang, Yi Gan, Yang Zhang, Liwen Zhang, Deyuan Chen, Huawei |
author_sort | Zhang, Yi |
collection | PubMed |
description | Unidirectional liquid spreading without energy input is of significant interest for the broad applications in diverse fields such as water harvesting, drop transfer, oil–water separation and microfluidic devices. However, the controllability of liquid motion and the simplification of manufacturing process remain challenges. Inspired by the peristome of Nepenthes alata, a surface-tension-confined (STC) channel with biomimetic microcavities was fabricated facilely through UV exposure photolithography and partial plasma treatment. Perfect asymmetric liquid spreading was achieved by combination of microcavities and hydrophobic boundary, and the stability of pinning effect was demonstrated. The influences of structural features of microcavities on both liquid spreading and liquid pinning were investigated and the underlying mechanism was revealed. We also demonstrated the spontaneous unidirectional transport of liquid in 3D space and on tilting slope. In addition, through changing pits arrangement and wettability pattern, complex liquid motion paths and microreactors were realized. This work will open a new way for liquid manipulation and lab-on-chip applications. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-7692703 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2020 |
publisher | MDPI |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-76927032020-11-28 Surface-Tension-Confined Channel with Biomimetic Microstructures for Unidirectional Liquid Spreading Zhang, Yi Gan, Yang Zhang, Liwen Zhang, Deyuan Chen, Huawei Micromachines (Basel) Article Unidirectional liquid spreading without energy input is of significant interest for the broad applications in diverse fields such as water harvesting, drop transfer, oil–water separation and microfluidic devices. However, the controllability of liquid motion and the simplification of manufacturing process remain challenges. Inspired by the peristome of Nepenthes alata, a surface-tension-confined (STC) channel with biomimetic microcavities was fabricated facilely through UV exposure photolithography and partial plasma treatment. Perfect asymmetric liquid spreading was achieved by combination of microcavities and hydrophobic boundary, and the stability of pinning effect was demonstrated. The influences of structural features of microcavities on both liquid spreading and liquid pinning were investigated and the underlying mechanism was revealed. We also demonstrated the spontaneous unidirectional transport of liquid in 3D space and on tilting slope. In addition, through changing pits arrangement and wettability pattern, complex liquid motion paths and microreactors were realized. This work will open a new way for liquid manipulation and lab-on-chip applications. MDPI 2020-10-30 /pmc/articles/PMC7692703/ /pubmed/33143205 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/mi11110978 Text en © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
spellingShingle | Article Zhang, Yi Gan, Yang Zhang, Liwen Zhang, Deyuan Chen, Huawei Surface-Tension-Confined Channel with Biomimetic Microstructures for Unidirectional Liquid Spreading |
title | Surface-Tension-Confined Channel with Biomimetic Microstructures for Unidirectional Liquid Spreading |
title_full | Surface-Tension-Confined Channel with Biomimetic Microstructures for Unidirectional Liquid Spreading |
title_fullStr | Surface-Tension-Confined Channel with Biomimetic Microstructures for Unidirectional Liquid Spreading |
title_full_unstemmed | Surface-Tension-Confined Channel with Biomimetic Microstructures for Unidirectional Liquid Spreading |
title_short | Surface-Tension-Confined Channel with Biomimetic Microstructures for Unidirectional Liquid Spreading |
title_sort | surface-tension-confined channel with biomimetic microstructures for unidirectional liquid spreading |
topic | Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7692703/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33143205 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/mi11110978 |
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