Droplets sit and slide anisotropically on soft, stretched substrates
arXiv:2007.07300 · doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.158004
Abstract
Anisotropically wetting substrates enable useful control of droplet behavior across a range of applications. Usually, these involve chemically or physically patterning the substrate surface, or applying gradients in properties like temperature or electrical field. Here, we show that a flat, stretched, uniform soft substrate also exhibits asymmetric wetting, both in terms of how droplets slide and in their static shape. Droplet dynamics are strongly affected by stretch: glycerol droplets on silicone substrates with a 23\% stretch slide 67\% faster in the direction parallel to the applied stretch than in the perpendicular direction. Contrary to classical wetting theory, static droplets in equilibrium appear elongated, oriented parallel to the stretch direction. Both effects arise from droplet-induced deformations of the substrate near the contact line.
arXiv comment3 figures
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Cited by in corpus (7)
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- Gradient-dynamics model for liquid drops on elastic substrates
- The role of crosslinking density in surface stress and surface energy of soft solids
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