1. Hierarchical Nanotexturing Enables Acoustofluidics on Slippery yet Sticky, Flexible Surfaces
- Author
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Pep Canyelles-Pericas, Hamdi Torun, Qiang Wu, Ran Tao, Jonathan M. Cooper, Xin Yang, Jingting Luo, Yong Qing Fu, Jian Zhou, Jikui Luo, Julien Reboud, and Glen McHale
- Subjects
Materials science ,Letter ,F300 ,Microfluidics ,F100 ,Soft robotics ,Bioengineering ,Nanotechnology ,02 engineering and technology ,H800 ,Microsystem ,Ultimate tensile strength ,General Materials Science ,Mechanical Engineering ,flexible devices ,Hierarchical nanotexture ,General Chemistry ,Adhesion ,021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology ,Condensed Matter Physics ,Piezoelectricity ,Shear (sheet metal) ,acoustofluidics ,slippery surface ,droplet transport ,0210 nano-technology ,Actuator - Abstract
The ability to actuate liquids remains a fundamental challenge in smart microsystems, such as those for soft robotics, where devices often need to conform to either natural or three-dimensional solid shapes, in various orientations. Here we propose a hierarchical nanotexturing of piezoelectric films as active microfluidic actuators, exploiting a unique combination of both topographical and chemical properties on flexible surfaces, whilst also introducing design concepts of shear hydrophobicity and tensile hydrophilicity. In doing so, we create nanostructured surfaces that are, at the same time, both slippery (low in-plane pinning) and sticky (high normal-to-plane liquid adhesion). By enabling fluid transportation on such arbitrarily shaped surfaces, we demonstrate efficient fluid motions on inclined, vertical, inverted, or even flexible geometries in three dimensions. Such surfaces can also be deformed and then reformed into their original shapes, thereby paving the way for advanced microfluidic applications.
- Published
- 2020