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Register a new userElasto-capillary meniscus: Pulling out a soft strip sticking to a liquid surface
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A liquid surface touching a solid usually deforms in a near-wall meniscus region. In this work, we replace part of the free surface with a soft polymer and examine the shape of this elasto-capillary meniscus, result of the interplay between elasticity, capillarity and hydrostatic pressure. We focus particularly on the extraction threshold for the soft object. Indeed, we demonstrate both experimentally and theoretically the existence of a limit height of liquid tenable before breakdown of the compound, and extraction of the object. Such an extraction force is known since Laplace and Gay-Lussac, but only in the context of rigid floating objects. We revisit this classical problem by adding the elastic ingredient and predict the extraction force in terms of the strip elastic properties. It is finally shown that the critical force can be increased with elasticity, as is commonplace in adhesion phenomena
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This research introduces a new drop fluidics, which uses a deformable and stretchable elastomeric film as the platform, instead of the commonly used rigid supports. Such a soft film impregnated with magnetic particles can be modulated with an external electromagnetic field that produces a vast array of topographical landscapes with varying surface curvature, which, in conjunction with capillarity, can direct and control motion of water droplets efficiently and accurately. When a thin layer of oil is present on this film that is deformed locally, a centrosymmetric wedge is formed. A water droplet placed on this oil laden film becomes asymmetrically deformed thus producing a gradient of Laplace pressure within the droplet setting it to motion. A simple theory is presented that accounts for the droplet speed in terms of such geometric variables as the volume of the droplet and the thickness of the oil film covering the soft elastomeric film, as well as such material variables as the viscosity of the oil and interfacial tension of the oil-water interfaces. Following the verification of the theoretical result using well-controlled model systems, we demonstrate how the electromagnetically controlled elasto-capillary force can be used to manipulate the motion of single and/or multiple droplets on the surface of the elastomeric film and how such elementary operations as drop fusion and thermally addressed chemical transformation can be carried out in aqueous droplets. It is expected that the resulting drop fluidics would be suitable for digital control of drop motion by simply switching on and off the electromagnetic fields applied at different positions underneath the elastomeric film. We anticipate that this method of directing and manipulating water droplets is poised for its applications in various biochemical reaction engineering, an example of which is Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR).
Many textbooks dealing with surface tension favor the thermodynamic approach (minimization of some thermodynamic potential such as free energy) over the mechanical approach (balance of forces) to describe capillary phenomena, stating that the latter is flawed and misleading. Yet, mechanical approach is more intuitive for students than free energy minimization, and does not require any knowledge of thermodynamics. In this paper we show that capillary phenomena can be unmistakably described using the mechanical approach, as long as the system on which the forces act is properly defined. After reminding the microscopic origin of a tangential tensile force at the interface, we derive the Young-Dupr{e} equation, emphasizing that this relation should be interpreted as an interface condition at the contact line, rather than a force balance equation. This correct interpretation avoids misidentification of capillary forces acting on a given system. Moreover, we show that a reliable method to correctly identify the acting forces is to define a control volume that does not embed any contact line on its surface. Finally, as an illustration of this method, we apply the mechanical approach in a variety of ways on a classic example: the derivation of the equilibrium height of capillary rise (Jurins law).
In this paper, we report a novel experimental and theoretical study to examine the response of a soft capsule bathed in a liquid environment to sudden external impacts. Taking an egg yolk as an example, we found that the soft matter is not sensitive to translational impacts, but is very sensitive to rotational, especially decelerating-rotational impacts, during which the centrifugal force and the shape of the membrane together play a critical role causing the deformation of the soft object. This finding, as the first study of its kind, reveals the fundamental physics behind the motion and deformation of a membrane-bound soft object, e.g., egg yolk, cells, soft brain matter, etc., in response to external impacts.
Small objects floating on a fluid have a tendency to aggregate due to capillary forces. This effect has been used, with the help of a magnetic induction field, to assemble submillimeter metallic spheres into a variety of structures, whose shape and size can be tuned. Under time-varying fields, these assemblies can propel themselves due to a breaking of time reversal symmetry in their adopted shapes. In this article, we study the influence of an in-plane rotation of the magnetic field on these structures. Various rotational modes have been observed with different underlying mechanisms. The magnetic properties of the particles cause them to rotate individually. Dipole-dipole interactions in the assembly can cause the whole structure to align with the field. Finally, non-reciprocal deformations can power the rotation of the assembly. Symmetry plays an important role in the dynamics, as well as the frequency and amplitude of the applied field. Understanding the interplay of these effects is essential, both to explain previous observations and to develop new functions for these assemblies.
Control on microscopic scales depends critically on our ability to manipulate interactions with different physical fields. The creation of micro-machines therefore requires us to understand how multiple fields, such as surface capillary or electro-magnetic, can be used to produce predictable behaviour. Recently, a spinning micro-raft system was developed that exhibited both static and dynamic self-assembly [Wang et al. (2017) Sci. Adv. 3, e1602522]. These rafts employed both capillary and magnetic interactions and, at a critical driving frequency, would suddenly change from stable orbital patterns to static assembled structures. In this paper, we explain the dynamics of two interacting micro-rafts through a combination of theoretical models and experiments. This is first achieved by identifying the governing physics of the orbital patterns, the assembled structures, and the collapse separately. We find that the orbital patterns are determined by the short range capillary interactions between the disks, while the explanations of the other two behaviours only require the capillary far field. Finally we combine the three models to explain the dynamics of a new micro-raft experiment.
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