Underwater Directional and Continuous Manipulation of Gas Bubbles on Superaerophobic Magnetically-Responsive Microcilia Array

The manipulation of underwater bubbles is of great significance in scientific research and industrial applications since they are ubiquitous and inevitable in production and life, for example, in agriculture and industry processes. Unfortunately, in an aqueous environment, the bubbles are mainly dominated by buoyancy and move upward, which makes the manipulation of bubbles difficult. To this end, numerous materials have been designed to manipulate bubbles. However, almost all of the existing materials are based on the superaerophilic surface, which has low controllability of bubble and cannot switch the transport velocity. Therefore, realizing the efficient, non-destructive, and reversible manipulation of bubbles remains a great challenge. Herein, a novel strategy combining the superaerophobic wettability with magnetic response microcilia structure surface to achieve efficient, lossless, and reversible manipulation of bubbles is proposed. The surface can not only realize the non-destructive manipulation of bubbles with different volumes, but also adjust the bubble transport velocity by adjusting the magnetic field. This study provides a reference for the application of bubbles in more fields and provides a basis for the development and research of expanding the application of microfluidic technology in the future.

Automated summary

The manipulation of underwater bubbles is important in scientific research and industrial applications. Existing materials based on superaerophilic surfaces have limitations in controlling bubbles and adjusting their transport velocity. This study proposes a novel strategy that combines superaerophobic wettability with magnetic response microcilia structure surface to achieve efficient, non-destructive, and reversible manipulation of bubbles.