Open AccessHanging droplets from liquid surfaces
Author(s) -
Ganhua Xie,
Joe Forth,
Shipei Zhu,
Brett A. Helms,
Paul D. Ashby,
Ho Cheung Shum,
Thomas P. Russell
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.011
H-Index - 771
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.1922045117
Subject(s) - ethylene glycol , coacervate , surface tension , aqueous solution , materials science , peg ratio , dextran , nanotechnology , chemistry , chemical engineering , chromatography , organic chemistry , physics , engineering , thermodynamics , finance , economics
Significance Heavier objects usually sink in a less dense fluid. Water-walking anthropods and biomimetic water-walking robots harness surface tension in order to overcome this tendency, floating on top of liquids. By hanging a coacervate-encased droplet of a denser aqueous dextran solution from the surface of an aqueous solution of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), we harness the binding of dense droplets to interfaces by surface tension to build two-dimensional ensembles of structurally complex droplets. Applications ranging from reaction vessels with selective transport to motors and robotics are enabled by our findings.
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