Programmable droplet transport on multi-bioinspired slippery surface with tridirectionally anisotropic wettability

Abstract

• Multi-bioinspired tridirectionally anisotropic slippery surfaces were prepared. • The pinning effect of step edge was critical to the tridirectional anisotropy. • Vertical vibration assisted programmable droplet transports were realized. • In-plane manipulation of droplet motion in more than two directions was realized. • Droplet-based chemical micro-reactors were designed. Directional droplet transport on functional surfaces with anisotropic wettability has shown great potential applications in various fields such as water harvesting, chemical micro-reaction, and biomedical analysis. However, the in-plane manipulation of the anisotropic droplet motion in more than two directions is still a challenge. Herein, through the fusion of inspirations from rice leaves, butterfly wings and Pitcher plants, we report a tridirectionally anisotropic slippery surface (TASS) with periodic step-like micro grooves for programmable droplet transport. TASS possesses a tridirectional droplet sliding behavior, i.e. , the ultra-slipperiness along the grooves with a sliding angle of ∼2°, and the bidirectionally anisotropic sliding perpendicular to the grooves with sliding angle difference up to ∼50°, which is caused by the pinning effect of the step edge. Under the assistance of periodic vertical vibration, groove-features and droplet-volume dependent unidirectional droplets transports are realized on horizontally placed TASS, based on which two micro-reactors are designed to control the sequence of droplets merging and subsequent chemical reactions. Additionally, by utilizing the slipperiness ( i.e. , ultra-low sliding angle for liquid droplet) along the grooves simultaneously, programmable droplet transport under vertical vibration is further demonstrated on a tilted TASS. This work will provide a new avenue for the understanding of anisotropic wettability on asymmetric slippery surface, and thus offer a great opportunity to develop advanced interface for multidirectional droplet transport, chemical micro-reactor, etc .