Drops transformed from a continuous flow on a superhydrophobic incline

Biochemical analysis with discrete drops on superhydrophobic surfaces will benefit from low loss, low contamination and open access features, but is challenged by the ability to generate them. A simple approach for delivering the drops from a continuous flow through an inclined superhydrophobic surface here showed the rear pinning contact line to be strongly influential in retention, providing potential for volume control, yet without any lossy daughter droplet formation. At a high flowrate regime prior to jetting, the liquid body was found to develop a grown out section that was able to flip up and down to be airborne, depending on the gravitational effect. While the section was airborne, the drop was able to increase its volume without the action of the three-phase mechanics dictating detachment.