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Magnetocontrollable droplet mobility on liquid crystal-infused porous surfaces

Xu, Yang and Yao, Yuxing and Deng, Weichen and Fang, Jen-Chun and Dupont, Robert L. and Zhang, Meng and Čopar, Simon and Tkalec, Uroš and Wang, Xiaoguang (2022) Magnetocontrollable droplet mobility on liquid crystal-infused porous surfaces. Nano Research . ISSN 1998-0124. doi:10.1007/s12274-022-5318-y. (In Press) https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20230113-708423000.13

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Abstract

Magnetocontrollable droplet mobility on surfaces of both solids and simple fluids have been widely used in a wide range of applications. However, little is understood about the effect of the magnetic field on the wettability and mobility of droplets on structured fluids. Here, we report the manipulation of the dynamic behaviors of water droplets on a film of thermotropic liquid crystals (LCs). We find that the static wetting behavior and static friction of water droplets on a 4′-octyl-4-biphenylcarbonitrile (8CB) film strongly depend on the LC mesophases, and that a magnetic field caused no measurable change to these properties. However, we find that the droplet dynamics can be affected by a magnetic field as it slides on a nematic 8CB film, but not on isotropic 8CB, and is dependent on both the direction and strength of the magnetic field. By measuring the dynamic friction of a droplet sliding on a nematic 8CB film, we find that a magnetic field alters the internal orientational ordering of the 8CB which in turn affects its viscosity. We support this interpretation with a scaling argument using the LC magnetic coherence length that includes (i) the elastic energy from the long-range orientational ordering of 8CB and (ii) the free energy from the interaction between 8CB and a magnetic field. Overall, these results advance our understanding of droplet mobility on LC films and enable new designs for responsive surfaces that can manipulate the mobility of water droplets.


Item Type:Article
Related URLs:
URLURL TypeDescription
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-022-5318-yDOIArticle
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmc9768411/PubMed CentralArticle
https://rdcu.be/c5h2IPublisherFree ReadCube Access
ORCID:
AuthorORCID
Xu, Yang0000-0002-9945-7507
Yao, Yuxing0000-0003-0337-6372
Dupont, Robert L.0000-0002-1963-6573
Zhang, Meng0000-0002-9753-0635
Čopar, Simon0000-0002-7566-0260
Tkalec, Uroš0000-0003-0552-0518
Wang, Xiaoguang0000-0002-4079-9596
Additional Information:X. W. thanks the funding support from the startup fund of the Ohio State University (OSU) and OSU Institute for Materials Research Kickstart Facility Grant. S. Č. and U. T. acknowledge support by Slovenian Research Agency (ARRS) under contracts (Nos. P1-0099, P1-0055, and J1-2457).
Funders:
Funding AgencyGrant Number
Ohio State UniversityUNSPECIFIED
Slovenian Research AgencyP1-0099
Slovenian Research AgencyP1-0055
Slovenian Research AgencyJ1-2457
DOI:10.1007/s12274-022-5318-y
Record Number:CaltechAUTHORS:20230113-708423000.13
Persistent URL:https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20230113-708423000.13
Usage Policy:No commercial reproduction, distribution, display or performance rights in this work are provided.
ID Code:118797
Collection:CaltechAUTHORS
Deposited By: Research Services Depository
Deposited On:10 Feb 2023 17:16
Last Modified:10 Feb 2023 17:16

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