Engineering Science and Materials Commons^™

Droplet Motion On Miniaturized Ratchets, Jeong Tae Ok

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The main objective of this study is to evaluate the feasibility of using miniaturized asymmetric structures to move liquid droplets and understand the driving mechanism. We developed the fabrication process for large area topological ratchets with the period ranging from millimeter down to sub-micrometer using micromachining techniques. Non-wetting superhydrophobic surfaces were successfully fabricated using soft UV or thermal nanoimprint lithography, reactive ion etching by oxygen plasma, and chemical surface modification by fluorinated silane vapor deposition. An accurate and reproducible experimental setup equipped with high speed camera and automatic injection system was established. Image processing tools allowed us to obtain various …