Droplet spreading in 1, 2 or 3 directions

What is it about?

Droplets usually spread in all directions on a surface. If the surface is full of nanostructures, however, and one side of each nanostructure is hydrophilic and the opposite side is hydrophobic, then droplets will spread only in the direction of the hydrophilic side. Using this newfound method on rectangular nanostructures can bring about droplet spreading in 2 perpendicular directions, as well as 3 different directions.

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Why is it important?

First time a single method can be used to cause droplet spreading in 1, 2 and 3 directions. The spreading rate is also much faster (3000 times) than previous methods. The shape of the droplet can be precisely controlled and predicted using the calculations here. This work can be useful for thermal management, microfluidics and biosensing chips etc. by directing the flow of fluids on a surface without use of external sources of energy.