AI Article Synopsis
- Durotaxis is the directed movement of cells based on the stiffness of the substrate they are on.
- Recent findings indicate that droplets also move along stiffness gradients, but in the opposite direction to cells, moving toward softer surfaces.
- The study highlights the importance of substrate wettability and shows that for nonwetting liquids, the direction of movement can be reversed, suggesting new methods to control droplet behavior in microfluidic technologies.
Article Abstract
Durotaxis refers to cell motion directed by stiffness gradients of an underlying substrate. Recent work has shown that droplets also move spontaneously along stiffness gradients through a process reminiscent of durotaxis. Wetting droplets, however, move toward softer substrates, an observation seemingly at odds with cell motion. Here, we extend our understanding of this phenomenon, and show that wettability of the substrate plays a critical role: while wetting droplets move in the direction of lower stiffness, nonwetting liquids reverse droplet durotaxis. Our numerical experiments also reveal that Laplace pressure can be used to determine the direction of motion of liquid slugs in confined environments. Our results suggest new ways of controlling droplet dynamics at small scales, which can open the door to enhanced bubble and droplet logic in microfluidic platforms.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/c7sm01917c | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Anisotropic Wetting and Diffusion Behavior of Water Droplets on Biphenylene Compared to Graphene.
Langmuir
December 2024
Monash Suzhou Research Institute, Monash University, SIP, Suzhou 215000, China.
We comparatively studied the wetting behavior of water droplets on graphene and biphenylene using molecular dynamics simulations. The research showed that pristine biphenylene (BPN), unlike graphene, exhibits greater hydrophobicity and anisotropic wettability. This specific anisotropy can be tuned by the layer number and vacancy concentration.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStructuring in thin films during meniscus-guided deposition.
J Chem Phys
November 2024
Department of Applied Physics and Science Education, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
Article Synopsis
- - The study explores how evaporation affects the phase separation of a binary fluid mixture in a thin film on a moving surface, focusing on scenarios where phase separation occurs away from the coating device.
- - It analyzes the transport processes during this phase separation, noting that initial stages are dominated by diffusive and evaporative mass transport, while later stages exhibit a mix of different coarsening mechanisms influenced by solvent evaporation rates and material properties.
- - A new hydrodynamic coarsening regime is identified for off-critical mixtures, where solute-rich droplets move towards thinner areas of the film, leading to their accumulation and coalescence in those regions.
Network-based virus dynamic simulation: Evaluating the fomite disinfection effectiveness on SARS-CoV-2 transmission in indoor environment.
Infect Dis Model
March 2025
Department of Frontier Science for Advanced Environment, Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Tohoku University, Sendai, Miyagi, 980-8572, Japan.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is involved in aerosol particles and droplets excreted from a coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patient. Such aerosol particles or droplets including infectious virions can be attached on fomite, so fomite is not a negligible route for SARS-CoV-2 transmission within a community, especially in indoor environment. This necessarily evokes a need of fomite disinfection to remove virions, but the extent to which fomite disinfection breaks off virus transmission chain in indoor environment is still elusive.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDiscretised microfluidics for noninvasive health monitoring using sweat sensing.
Lab Chip
December 2024
Microsystems, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
Using sweat instead of blood for monitoring chemical biomarker concentrations of hospitalised patients offers several advantages for both the patients and healthcare workers. Unlike blood, sweat can be noninvasively and continuously sampled without direct involvement of a professional, and sweat contains a rich composition of biomarkers. However, patients in resting state have extremely low sweat rates and they produce correspondingly small sweat volumes, which makes sweat sensing of hospitalised patients highly challenging.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCollision of cesium atoms on helium nanodroplets: Unraveling mechanisms for surface capture at experimental velocities.
J Chem Phys
November 2024
Université Paris-Saclay, Univ Evry, CY Cergy Paris Université, CNRS, LAMBE, Evry-Courcouronnes 91025, France.
The collision of cesium atoms on the surface of helium nanodroplets (HNDs) containing 1000 atoms is described by the ZPAD-mPL approach, a zero-point averaged dynamics (ZPAD) method based on a He-He pseudopotential adjusted to better reproduce the total energy of He1000. Four types of collisional patterns were identified depending on the initial projectile speed v0 and impact parameter b. At the lowest speeds (v0 ≲ 250 m s-1), Cs atoms are softly captured by the HND surface, while at the highest ones (v0 ≳ 500-600 m s-1), Cs atoms can travel through the droplet and move away.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWant AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!