Droplet control based on pinning and substrate wettability

Abstract

Pinning of liquid droplets on solid substrates is ubiquitous and plays an essential role in many applications, especially in various areas, such as microfluidics and biology. Although pinning can often reduce the efficiency of various applications, a deeper understanding of this phenomenon can actually offer possibilities for technological exploitation. Here, by means of molecular dynamics simulation, we identify the conditions that lead to droplet pinning or depinning and discuss the effects of key parameters in detail, such as the height of the physical pinning-barrier and the wettability of the substrates. Moreover, we describe the mechanism of the barrier crossing by the droplet upon depinning, identify the driving force of this process, and, also, elucidate the dynamics of the droplet. Not only does our work provide a detailed description of the pinning and depinning processes, but it also explicitly highlights how both processes can be exploited in nanotechnology applications to control droplet motion. Hence, we anticipate that our study will have significant implications for the nanoscale design of substrates in micro and nano-scale systems and will assist with assessing pinning effects in various applications.