Rotating Surfaces Promote the Shedding of Droplets

Achieving rapid shedding of droplets from solid surfaces has received substantial attention because of its diverse applications. Previous studies have focused on minimizing contact times of liquid droplets interacting with stationary surfaces, yet little consideration has been given to that of moving surfaces. Here, we report a different scenario: A water droplet rapidly detaches from micro/nanotextured rotating surfaces in an intriguing doughnut shape, contributing to about 40% contact time reduction compared with that on stationary surfaces. The doughnut-shaped bouncing droplet fragments into satellites and spontaneously scatters, thus avoiding further collision with the substrate. In particular, the contact time is highly dependent on impact velocities of droplets, beyond previous descriptions of classical inertial -capillary scaling law. Our results not only deepen the fundamental understanding of droplet dynamics on moving surfaces but also suggest a synergistic mechanism to actively regulate the contact time by coupling the kinematics of droplet impingement and surface rotation.

Automated summary

Water droplets detach rapidly from rotating surfaces with micro/nanotextures in a doughnut shape, reducing the contact time by about 40% compared with stationary surfaces. The droplets fragment into satellites and scatter spontaneously to avoid further collision with the substrate. Furthermore, the contact time is highly dependent on the impact velocities of the droplets, surpassing the classical inertial-capillary scaling law. These results not only deepen the fundamental understanding of droplet dynamics on moving surfaces but also suggest a synergistic mechanism to actively regulate the contact time by coupling the kinematics of droplet impingement and surface rotation.