Effective Strategies for Droplet Transport on Solid Surfaces
Shiji Lin, Bin Li, Yi Xu, Abbasali Abouei Mehrizi, Longquan Chen
Abstract
Abstract Droplet manipulation on solid surfaces is a key technique involved in a variety of applications ranging from self‐cleaning coatings to micro total analysis systems, and thus has been extensively investigated over the recent years. Here, an attempt is made to provide an overview of the latest developed strategies for controlling droplet dynamics, which include droplet motion mediated by surface wettability gradient or external actuation sources, and liquid transport at high‐temperature surfaces or high‐energy surfaces. More specifically, the working mechanism of diverse strategies is introduced, and their advantages and disadvantages are compared, based on which, an outlook of the future development of their applications is provided.