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Soft Surface: Droplets on Soft Surfaces Exhibit a Reluctance to Coalesce due to an Intervening Wetting Ridge (Adv. Mater. Interfaces 17/2020)
Author(s) -
Roy Rishav,
Seiler Robert L.,
Weibel Justin A.,
Garimella Suresh V.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
advanced materials interfaces
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.671
H-Index - 65
ISSN - 2196-7350
DOI - 10.1002/admi.202070098
Subject(s) - materials science , wetting , ridge , substrate (aquarium) , composite material , soft materials , nanotechnology , geology , paleontology , oceanography
It is an everyday observation that water droplets condensing on a rigid substrate coalesce immediately upon touching. Soft surfaces, however, possess unique properties that create an illusionary effect in this situation, making it appear that droplets can touch and form a dense pattern instead of coalescing. In article number 2000731 Rishav Roy, Suresh V. Garimella, and coworkers demonstrate that this reluctance to coalesce is a consequence of deformation of the soft surfaces to form intervening ridges between the droplets. The cover art illustrates the topography of droplet ‘footprints’ after they are removed from a cryogenically fixed soft substrate.