Superhydrophobicity on hairy surfaces.

We investigate the wetting properties of surfaces patterned with fine elastic hairs, with an emphasis on identifying superhydrophobic states on hydrophilic hairs. We formulate a 2D model of a large drop in contact with a row of equispaced elastic hairs and, by minimizing the free energy of the model...

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Main Authors: Blow, M, Yeomans, J
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: 2010
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author Blow, M
Yeomans, J
author_facet Blow, M
Yeomans, J
author_sort Blow, M
collection OXFORD
description We investigate the wetting properties of surfaces patterned with fine elastic hairs, with an emphasis on identifying superhydrophobic states on hydrophilic hairs. We formulate a 2D model of a large drop in contact with a row of equispaced elastic hairs and, by minimizing the free energy of the model, identify the stable and metastable states. In particular, we concentrate on partially suspended states, where the hairs bend to support the drop--singlet states, where all hairs bend in the same direction, and doublet states, where neighboring hairs bend in opposite directions--and find the limits of stability of these configurations in terms of the material contact angle, hair flexibility, and system geometry. The drop can remain suspended in a singlet state at hydrophilic contact angles, but doublets exist only when the hairs are hydrophobic. The system is more likely to evolve into a singlet state if the hairs are inclined at the root. We discuss how, under limited circumstances, the results can be modified to describe an array of hairs in three dimensions. We find that now both singlets and doublets can exhibit superhydrophobic behavior on hydrophilic hairs. We discuss the limitations of our approach and the directions for future work.
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spelling oxford-uuid:5dc84f0e-3c13-4bfc-857f-14eff02df8ef2022-03-26T17:36:26ZSuperhydrophobicity on hairy surfaces.Journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:5dc84f0e-3c13-4bfc-857f-14eff02df8efEnglishSymplectic Elements at Oxford2010Blow, MYeomans, JWe investigate the wetting properties of surfaces patterned with fine elastic hairs, with an emphasis on identifying superhydrophobic states on hydrophilic hairs. We formulate a 2D model of a large drop in contact with a row of equispaced elastic hairs and, by minimizing the free energy of the model, identify the stable and metastable states. In particular, we concentrate on partially suspended states, where the hairs bend to support the drop--singlet states, where all hairs bend in the same direction, and doublet states, where neighboring hairs bend in opposite directions--and find the limits of stability of these configurations in terms of the material contact angle, hair flexibility, and system geometry. The drop can remain suspended in a singlet state at hydrophilic contact angles, but doublets exist only when the hairs are hydrophobic. The system is more likely to evolve into a singlet state if the hairs are inclined at the root. We discuss how, under limited circumstances, the results can be modified to describe an array of hairs in three dimensions. We find that now both singlets and doublets can exhibit superhydrophobic behavior on hydrophilic hairs. We discuss the limitations of our approach and the directions for future work.
spellingShingle Blow, M
Yeomans, J
Superhydrophobicity on hairy surfaces.
title Superhydrophobicity on hairy surfaces.
title_full Superhydrophobicity on hairy surfaces.
title_fullStr Superhydrophobicity on hairy surfaces.
title_full_unstemmed Superhydrophobicity on hairy surfaces.
title_short Superhydrophobicity on hairy surfaces.
title_sort superhydrophobicity on hairy surfaces
work_keys_str_mv AT blowm superhydrophobicityonhairysurfaces
AT yeomansj superhydrophobicityonhairysurfaces