کد مقاله | کد نشریه | سال انتشار | مقاله انگلیسی | نسخه تمام متن |
---|---|---|---|---|
611705 | 880682 | 2008 | 8 صفحه PDF | دانلود رایگان |
Directional movement of liquid droplets is of significance not only for certain physiological processes in nature but also for design of some microfluidic devices. In this study, we report a novel way to drive directional movement of liquid droplets on a microbeam with a varying or gradient stiffness. We use the energy method to theoretically analyze the interaction between a droplet and the elastic microbeam. The system tends to have the minimum potential energy when the droplet moves to the softer end of the beam. Therefore, a gradient change of the bending stiffness may be utilized to help the directional motion of droplets. Similarly, one can also drive droplets to move in a designed direction by varying the cross sectional geometry of the beam. Finally, some possible applications of this self-propelling mechanism are suggested.
Energy method is used to analyze a droplet on a beam with varying stiffness. We found that the droplet may spontaneously move from the stiffer to the softer end.Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slide
Journal: Journal of Colloid and Interface Science - Volume 323, Issue 1, 1 July 2008, Pages 133–140