Temperature-dependent electrowetting behavior on Teflon AF1600

Abstract

In the growing application field of electrowetting (EW), reliable control of the wetting behavior by an applied voltage is required over a wide temperature range. Despite the rising interest of EW, only few data are reported in the literature on the EW behavior as a function of temperature. In this paper, we investigate the quasi-static EW response on one of the most widely used hydrophobic materials, Teflon AF1600, in a temperature range from 25 to 70,^{circ }mathrm{C}. The contact angle versus voltage is analyzed to illustrate the EW behavior. The results are in good agreement with the friction-adsorption model, which explains the contact angle (CA) hysteresis by a temperature-independent friction-like force and a temperature-dependent contribution of liquid adsorption onto a dielectric surface. The EW-CAs show a small asymmetry with respect to the polarity of the applied voltage, which might be due to the temporary and reversible charge trapping on the dielectric layer. The results underline that the different effects of the temperature-independent friction force and the temperature-dependent adsorption need to be taken into account to predict and control the CA in any EW-based application scenario.Graphical abstract