Mechano-Driven Tribo-Electrophoresis Enabled Human-Droplet Interaction in Three-dimensional Space.

Abstract

Electronically controlled droplet manipulation has widespread applications in biochemistry, life sciences and industry. However, current technologies such as electrowetting, electrostatics, and surface charge printing rely on complex electrode arrays and external power supplies, leading to inefficient manipulation. In light of these limitations, w e propose a novel method that leverages tribo-electrophoresis (TEP) to pipette in an oil medium, thereby enabling human-droplet interactions to be constructed with greater efficiency. O ur approach involves in the rational design of a triboelectric nanogenerator-electrostatic tweezer that generates an electric field to charge the droplet and improves the maneuverability of the charged droplet, including aligned/non-aligned pipetting, stable transport in clamped state, which can be accomplished solely by hand motion. The TEP method not only provides droplets with the freedom to move in three dimensions, but also offers a feasibility case for chemical reactions in the liquid phase and non-invasive sample extraction. This breakthrough establishes a cornerstone for human-droplet interactions capitalized on triboelectric nanogenerators, opening new avenues for research in droplet manipulation. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.