Slippery Liquid-infused Surface with Controllable Droplet Self-transport by Femtosecond Laser

Abstract

The slippery liquid-infused microstructure surface (SLIMS) could significantly reduce the adhesive force and facilitate the movement of droplet. However, the self-transport distance is still limited by the wedge angle and droplet volume. In this paper, the V-shaped prism microarray (VPM) surface processed by the femtosecond laser was introduced into the SLIMS to control the droplet self-transport distance. Benefited from the directional wettability of the VPM surface, the self-transport distance could be controlled in the case of fixed liquid volume and wedge angle. Meanwhile, the mechanism of droplet transport distance variation on the multi-bioinspired surface is also investigated. The results provide a new insight for precise liquid manipulation, which could promote droplet directional transport applications in both industrial and academic fields.