Ballistic Jumping Drops on Superhydrophobic Surfaces via Electrostatic Manipulation

The ballistic ejection of liquid drops by electrostatic manipulating has both fundamental and practical implications, from raindrops in thunderclouds to self-cleaning, anti-icing, condensation, and heat transfer enhancements. In this paper, the ballistic jumping behavior of liquid drops from a superhydrophobic surface is investigated. Powered by the repulsion of the same kind of charges, water drops can jump from the surface. The electrostatic acting time for the jumping of a microliter supercooled drop only takes several milliseconds, even shorter than the time for icing. In addition, one can control the ballistic jumping direction precisely by the relative position above the electrostatic field. The approach offers a facile method that can be used to manipulate the ballistic drop jumping via an electrostatic field, opening the possibility of energy efficient drop detaching techniques in various applications.