Surface Tension-Based Alignment of Microfibers on Hydrophilic-Superhydrophobic Grooved Surfaces.

ABSTRACT: Alignment and orderly distribution of microfibers have a major effect on the mechanical, electrical, and thermal properties of the fiber reinforced materials, biomimetic materials, and soft microsensors. However, it is still a challenging task to precisely align and distribute microfibers and construct complex patterns. This paper proposes a surface tension-based method to align and orderly distribute microfibers. A model was developed to simulate the surface tension driven alignment of the microfiber. We designed and fabricated hydrophilic-superhydrophobic grooved surfaces. We demonstrated that the microfibers can self-align to the hydrophilic-superhydrophobic grooves with different geometries. We studied the influence of the volume of the droplet and bias on the alignment success rate. T

SUBMITTER: Chang B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7716217 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature