The electrochemical manipulation of apolar solvent drops in aqueous electrolytes by altering the surface polarity of polypyrrole architectures

• Electrochemically assisted three-dimensional pickup, transport and release of apolar drops in aqueous electrolytes.
• Polypyrrole-coated O-rings, meshes or chips are used to manipulate dichloromethane drops.
• On-demand trapping and release in circulating electrolytes is possible.

We demonstrate an electrochemically assisted three-dimensional robotic system for the pickup, transport and release of dichloromethane drops in electrolytes using polypyrrole-coated O-rings. Changing the oxidation state of the polymer by means of cyclic voltammetry, pickup, transport and release of drops is demonstrated. Also, the drop manipulation is evaluated as a function of different doping agents in the polypyrrole coatings. Moreover, other polypyrrole-coated architectures such as chips and meshes are utilized to manipulate dichloromethane drops to successfully trap and release them on demand in moving electrolytes. These architectures are envisioned for use as microfluidic tools such as microreactors or microseparators.

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