Fibrotaxis: gradient-free droplet transport on soft solids

What is it about?

We found that when a soft material is reinforced with fibers and a small droplet is placed on it, the droplet moves spontaneously. Our high-fidelity numerical simulations show that this self-induced droplet motion, which we call fibrotaxis, is driven by the anisotropy of the soft solid. Our results show that the speed and direction of the droplet motion in fibrotaxis can be controlled using the droplet’s wettability and the properties of the anisotropic solid.

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Photo by Mark Doda on Unsplash

Photo by Mark Doda on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Traditional mechanisms for droplet motion rely on spatial gradients of material properties, like wettability or stiffness gradients. These mechanisms are controlled by inherent length scales that limit the transport distance and speed of the droplet. A unique feature of fibrotaxis is that it is gradient-free, allowing droplet motion over longer distances and at controllable speeds. Fibrotaxis presents an efficient way to control droplet motion in several engineering applications, such as self-cleaning surfaces, water harvesting, medical diagnostics and microfluidics.

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