Trapped liquid drop in a microchannel: multiple stable states.

A liquid drop trapped in a microchannel, in which both contact angle (wettability) and opening angle (geometry) can vary with position, is investigated based on the minimization of free energy. The calculus of variation yields the Young-Laplace equation and its further integration leads to the general force balance. The equilibrium position of the trapped drop is determined by the balance between the area-mean capillary force and the area-mean hydrostatic pressure difference.

Capillary rise in a microchannel of arbitrary shape and wettability: hysteresis loop.

Capillary rise in an asymmetric microchannel, in which both contact angle (wettability) and open angle (geometry) can vary with position, is investigated based on free-energy minimization. The integration of the Young-Laplace equation yields the general force balance between surface tension and gravity. The former is surface tension times the integration of cos θ(u) along the contact line, where θ(u) depicts the local difference between contact angle and open angle.

Droplet compression and relaxation by a superhydrophobic surface: contact angle hysteresis.

In this article, the contact angle hysteresis (CAH) of acrylic glass is experimentally and theoretically studied through the compression-relaxation process of droplets by using a superhydrophobic surface with negligible CAH effect. In contrast to the existing technique in which the volume of the droplet changes during the measurement of CAH, this procedure is carried out at a constant volume of the droplet. By observing the base diameter (BD) and the contact angle (CA) of the droplet during the compression-relaxation process, the wetting behavior of the droplet can be divided into two regimes, the contact line withdrawal and the contact line pinning regimes, depending on the gap thickness (H) at the end of the compression process.

Drops sitting on a tilted plate: receding and advancing pinning.

The wetting behavior of a liquid drop sitting on an inclined plane is investigated experimentally and theoretically. Using Surface Evolver, the numerical simulations are performed based on the liquid-induced defect model, in which only two thermodynamic parameters (solid-liquid interfacial tensions before and after wetting) are required. A drop with contact angle (CA) equal to θ is first placed on a horizontal plate, and then the plate is tilted.

Anomalous contact angle hysteresis of a captive bubble: advancing contact line pinning.

Contact angle hysteresis of a sessile drop on a substrate consists of continuous invasion of liquid phase with the advancing angle (θ(a)) and contact line pinning of liquid phase retreat until the receding angle (θ(r)) is reached. Receding pinning is generally attributed to localized defects that are more wettable than the rest of the surface. However, the defect model cannot explain advancing pinning of liquid phase invasion driven by a deflating bubble and continuous retreat of liquid phase driven by the inflating bubble.

Equilibrium phase diagram of drop-on-fiber: coexistent states and gravity effect.

Drop-on-fiber is commonly observed in daily life and is closely related to digital microfluidics. The wetting behavior of droplet-on-fiber is different from that of droplet-on-plane due to the global cylindrical shape. It is generally believed that the equilibrium geometric shape of a droplet on a fiber takes either asymmetric clam-shell or axisymmetric barrel conformation in the absence of gravity.

Wetting behavior of a drop atop holes.

Superhydrophobic surfaces generally involve completely nonwetting or partially wetting roughness. Because the contact angle is closely related to the liquid-gas interfacial tension, the shape of the liquid-gas interfaces within the grooves plays a key role in determining the droplet wetting behavior. We consider a droplet with volume, V, atop holes with radius, r, and obtain the analytical expression of the bottom liquid-air shape based on surface free energy minimization.

Communications: Wall free capillarity and pendant drop removal.

When a sessile drop encounters a pendant drop through a hole, it is generally anticipated that they will coalesce and flow downward due to gravity. However, like "wall-free" capillarity, we show that the pendant drop may be sucked up by a sliding drop instantaneously if the radius of the curvature of the former is smaller than that of the later. This phenomenon can be explained by Laplace-Young equation and convective Ostwald ripening.