4.7 Article

A droplet-driven micro-surfboard with dual gradients for programmable motion

Journal

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL
Volume 446, Issue -, Pages -

Publisher

ELSEVIER SCIENCE SA
DOI: 10.1016/j.cej.2022.136874

Keywords

Droplet-driven actuator; Directional transportation; Dual gradients of geometry and wettability; Femtosecond laser micro; nano fabrication; Programmable motion

Funding

  1. National Natural Science Foundation of China [51605463, 22075202, 52075557]
  2. Sichuan Science and Technology Program [2022JDRC0028]
  3. Exploratory Foundation from State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering [SKL-ChE-21T02]
  4. Open Fund of Key Laboratory of Icing and Anti/Deicing [IADL20190405, IADL20210408]
  5. Special program for international cooperation promotion plan of Southwest University of Science and Technology

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In this work, a novel droplet-driven micro-surfboard (DDMS) is developed, inspired by the character of water strider. The DDMS, fabricated via femtosecond laser micro/nano fabrication, can be driven in a green and controllable way. The study demonstrates the great potential of droplet-driven autonomous devices in the fields of micromechanics and intelligent systems.
Self-propelled autonomous devices have great significance in energy, environment, and biomedical engineering, and thus vast achievements have been made in recent years. However, conventional propulsion often requires special chemicals or external energy, limiting their practical applications due to environmental pollution and energy waste. In this work, inspired by the character of a water strider on the water surface, a novel dropletdriven micro-surfboard (DDMS) is developed via femtosecond laser micro/nano fabrication, which can be driven in a green and controllable way. The DDMS is composed of a superhydrophobic sheet with superhydrophilic wedgy grooves. The droplet is put on superhydrophilic wedgy grooves to enter the water and form a jet, which further facilitates the directional motion of the DDMS. Also, a type of actuator with three superhydrophilic wedgy grooves is designed successively to achieve turn direction, which completes the programable motion by adding droplets to the three channels. Finally, an actuator with circular water storage area and a symmetrical vane-like rotating device with two superhydrophilic channels are developed, realizing long-distance and rotational motions. This work provides new insights into pollution-free autonomous devices and shows the great potential of droplet-driven autonomous devices in the fields of micromechanics and intelligent systems.

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