Friction dynamics of elasto-inertial turbulence in Taylor-Couette flow of viscoelastic fluids.

Dynamic properties of elasto-inertial turbulence (EIT) are studied in a Taylor-Couette geometry. EIT is a chaotic flow state that develops upon both non-negligible inertia and viscoelasticity. A combination of direct flow visualization and torque measurement allows to verify the earlier onset of EIT compared with purely inertial instabilities (and inertial turbulence).

Impact of SiO Particles in Polyethylene Textile Membrane for Indoor Personal Heating.

Keeping the human body in a thermal comfort state inside a room has become a challenge in recent years. While the most common strategy is to heat buildings, it requires a lot of energy. Reducing this energy consumption will have positive impacts, both economically and environmentally.

Polymer photonic crystal membrane for thermo-regulating textile.

We study numerically the absorption and scattering properties of a polymer photonic membrane to thermoregulate the human body microclimate which corresponds to the area between the skin and a textile. We first show that the structuration of the absorbing photonic membrane with air holes leads to a modulation of the optical spectrum in the Mid-Infrared range. Indeed, we show that the membrane is able to modulate the transmission amplitude by 28% in benefit or deficit of both the absorption and reflection.

Cracking effects in squashable and stretchable thin metal films on PDMS for flexible microsystems and electronics.

Here, we study cracking of nanometre and sub-nanometre-thick metal lines (titanium, nickel, chromium, and gold) evaporated onto commercial polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrates. Mechanical and electromechanical testing reveals potentially technologically useful effects by harnessing cracking. When the thin film metal lines are subjected to uniaxial longitudinal stretching, strain-induced cracks develop in the film.

Antifouling Biomimetic Liquid-Infused Stainless Steel: Application to Dairy Industrial Processing.

Fouling is a widespread and costly issue, faced by all food-processing industries. Particularly, in the dairy sector, where thermal treatments are mandatory to ensure product safety, heat-induced fouling represents up to 80% of the total production costs. Significant environmental impacts, due the massive consumption of water and energy, are also to deplore.

Split and flow: reconfigurable capillary connection for digital microfluidic devices.

Supplying liquid to droplet-based microfluidic microsystems remains a delicate task facing the problems of coupling continuous to digital or macro- to microfluidic systems. Here, we take advantage of superhydrophobic microgrids to address this problem. Insertion of a capillary tube inside a microgrid aperture leads to a simple and reconfigurable droplet generation setup.

High-frequency acoustic for nanostructure wetting characterization.

Nanostructure wetting is a key problem when developing superhydrophobic surfaces. Conventional methods do not allow us to draw conclusions about the partial or complete wetting of structures on the nanoscale. Moreover, advanced techniques are not always compatible with an in situ, real time, multiscale (from macro to nanoscale) characterization.

Micro-and nanostructured silicon-based superomniphobic surfaces.

We report on the fabrication of silicon nanostructured superhydrophobic and superoleophobic surfaces also called "superomniphobic" surfaces. For this purpose, silicon interfaces with different surface morphologies, single or double scale structuration, were investigated. These structured surfaces were chemically treated with perfluorodecyltrichlorosilane (PFTS), a low surface energy molecule.

Acoustic tracking of Cassie to Wenzel wetting transitions.

Many applications involving superhydrophobic materials require accurate control and monitoring of wetting states and wetting transitions. Such monitoring is usually done by optical methods, which are neither versatile nor integrable. This letter presents an alternative approach based on acoustic measurements.

Electro-(de)wetting on superhydrophobic surfaces.

Usually, electrowetting on superhydrophobic surfaces (EWOSS) is generated by application of an alternating current signal and often leads to droplet impalement into the structuration. To avoid this phenomenon, superhydrophobic surfaces must show robustness to high pressure. Otherwise, an external energy has to be applied to dewet the droplet from the structuration.

Affinity surface-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry for peptide enrichment.

In this paper, we report on the functionalization of silicon nanostructured (NanoSi) surface with an organic layer of nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA) and its subsequent use as an affinity surface-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (SALDI-MS) interface for histidine-tagged peptide enrichment and mass spectrometry analysis. The NTA terminal groups are immobilized onto the NanoSi surface via very stable Si-C covalent bonds. The NTA-modified NanoSi (NTA-NanoSi) interface was characterized by contact angle measurements, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).

Inhibiting protein biofouling using graphene oxide in droplet-based microfluidic microsystems.

Biofouling or adsorption of biomolecules onto surfaces in microfluidic devices limits the type of samples which can be handled. In this paper, we take advantage of the high adsorption capacity of graphene oxide (GO) for proteins as a strategy to limit biofouling, while preserving their activity for droplet-based lab-on-chip applications.

Zipping effect on omniphobic surfaces for controlled deposition of minute amounts of fluid or colloids.

When a drop sits on a highly liquid-repellent surface (super-hydrophobic or super-omniphobic) made of periodic micrometer-sized posts, its contact-line can recede with very weak mechanical retention providing that the liquid stays on top of the microsized posts. Occurring in both sliding and evaporation processes, the achievement of low-contact-angle hysteresis (low retention) is required for discrete microfluidic applications involving liquid motion or self-cleaning; however, careful examination shows that during receding, a minute amount of liquid is left on top of the posts lying at the receding edge of the drop. For the first time, the heterogeneities of these deposits along the drop-receding contact-line are underlined.

Sliding droplets on superomniphobic zinc oxide nanostructures.

This study reports on liquid-repellency of zinc oxide nanostructures (ZnO NS). The ZnO NS are synthesized by an easy and fast chemical bath deposition technique. Three different nanostructured surfaces consisting of nanorods, flowers, and particles are prepared, depending on the deposition time and the presence of ethanolamine in the reaction mixture.

High sensitive matrix-free mass spectrometry analysis of peptides using silicon nanowires-based digital microfluidic device.

We present for the first time an electrowetting on dielectric (EWOD) microfluidic system coupled to a surface-assisted laser desorption-ionization (SALDI) silicon nanowire-based interface for mass spectrometry (MS) analysis of small biomolecules. Here, the transfer of analytes has been achieved on specific locations on the SALDI interface followed by their subsequent mass spectrometry analysis without the use of an organic matrix. To achieve this purpose, a device comprising a digital microfluidic system and a patterned superhydrophobic/superhydrophilic silicon nanowire interface was developed.

Engineering sticky superomniphobic surfaces on transparent and flexible PDMS substrate.

Following the achievement of superhydrophobicity which prevents water adhesion on a surface, superomniphobicity extends this high repellency property to a wide range of liquids, including oils, solvents, and other low surface energy liquids. Recent theoretical approaches have yield to specific microstructures design criterion to achieve such surfaces, leading to superomniphobic structured silicon substrate. To transfer this technology on a flexible substrate, we use a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) molding process followed by surface chemical modification.

Enhancement of biosensing performance in a droplet-based bioreactor by in situ microstreaming.

A droplet-based micro-total-analysis system involving biosensor performance enhancement by integrated surface-acoustic-wave (SAW) microstreaming is shown. The bioreactor consists of an encapsulated droplet with a biosensor on its periphery, with in situ streaming induced by SAW. This paper highlights the characterization by particle image tracking of the speed distribution inside the droplet.

Reversible electrowetting on superhydrophobic double-nanotextured surfaces.

The paper reports on wetting, electrowetting (EW), and systematic contact angle hysteresis measurements after electrowetting of superhydrophobic silicon nanowire surfaces (NWs). The surfaces consist of C4F8-coated silicon nanowires grown on Si/SiO2 substrate. Different surfaces modulating (i) the dielectric layer thickness and (ii) the nanotexturation were investigated in this study.

SPR biosensing coupled to a digital microfluidic microstreaming system.

This article reports on a proof-of-concept system composed of a droplet based surface plasmon resonance (SPR) system coupled to a surface acoustic wave (SAW) microfluidic plateform. It is now well established that surface based binding analyses such as SPR are highly influenced by the transport of analyte to the sensing surface. Further, obtaining reliable equilibrium in flow cells to realize quantification studies is not straightforward.

Reversible electrowetting on superhydrophobic silicon nanowires.

This paper reports for the first time on the reversible electrowetting of liquid droplets in air and oil environments on superhydrophobic silicon nanowires (SiNWs). The silicon nanowires were grown on Si/SiO2 substrates using the vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) mechanism, electrically insulated using 300 nm SiO2, and hydrophobized by coating with a fluoropolymer C4F8. The resulting surfaces displayed liquid contact angle (Theta) around 160 degrees for a saline solution (100 mM KCl) in air with almost no hysteresis.

Integrated microfabricated systems including a purification module and an on-chip nano electrospray ionization interface for biological analysis.

We report here on an integrated microfabricated device dedicated to the preparation of biological samples prior to their on-line analysis by electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). This microfluidic device is fabricated using the negative photoresist SU-8 by microtechnology techniques. The device includes a chromatographic module plus an ESI interface for MS.