Spontaneous Movement of a Droplet on a Conical Substrate: Theoretical Analysis of the Driving Force.

ABSTRACT: Experiments and simulations have shown that a droplet can move spontaneously and directionally on a conical substrate. The driving force originating from the gradient of curvatures is revealed as the self-propulsion mechanism. Theoretical analysis of the driving force is highly desirable; currently, most of them are based on a perturbative theory with assuming a weakly curved substrate. However, this assumption is valid only when the size of the droplet is far smaller than the curvature radius of the substrate. In this paper, we derive a more accurate analytical model for describing the driving force by exploring the geometric characteristics of a spherical droplet on a cylindrical substrate. In contrast to the perturbative solution, our model is valid under a much weaker condition, i.e.,

SUBMITTER: Liu J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9219097 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature