Detail publikace

Unidirectional Droplet Propulsion onto Gradient Brushes without External Energy Supply

Kajouri, R. Theodorakis, PE. Deuar, P. Bennacer, R. Zidek, J. Egorov, SA. Milchev, A.

Originální název

Unidirectional Droplet Propulsion onto Gradient Brushes without External Energy Supply

Typ

článek v časopise ve Web of Science, Jimp

Jazyk

angličtina

Originální abstrakt

Using extensive molecular dynamics simulation of a coarse-grained model, we demonstrate the possibility of sustained unidirectional motion (durotaxis) of droplets without external energy supply when placed on a polymer brush substrate with stiffness gradient in a certain direction. The governing key parameters for the specific substrate design studied, which determine the durotaxis efficiency, are found to be the grafting density of the brush and the droplet adhesion to the brush surface, whereas the strength of the stiffness gradient, the viscosity of the droplet, or the length of the polymer chains of the brush have only a minor effect on the process. It is shown that this durotaxial motion is driven by the steady increase of the interfacial energy between droplet and brush as the droplet moves from softer to stiffer parts of the substrate whereby the mean driving force gradually declines with decreasing roughness of the brush surface. We anticipate that our findings indicate further possibilities in the area of nanoscale motion without external energy supply.

Klíčová slova

MOLECULAR-DYNAMICS; TRANSPORT; MOTION; SURFACES; DRIVEN; MASS; DUROTAXIS; GRAPHENE

Autoři

Kajouri, R.; Theodorakis, PE.; Deuar, P.; Bennacer, R.; Zidek, J.; Egorov, SA.; Milchev, A.

Vydáno

9. 2. 2023

Nakladatel

AMER CHEMICAL SOC

Místo

WASHINGTON

ISSN

0743-7463

Periodikum

Langmuir

Ročník

39

Číslo

7

Stát

Spojené státy americké

Strany od

2818

Strany do

2828

Strany počet

11

URL

BibTex

@article{BUT184144,
  author="Kajouri, R. and Theodorakis, PE. and Deuar, P. and Bennacer, R. and Zidek, J. and Egorov, SA. and Milchev, A.",
  title="Unidirectional Droplet Propulsion onto Gradient Brushes without External Energy Supply",
  journal="Langmuir",
  year="2023",
  volume="39",
  number="7",
  pages="2818--2828",
  doi="10.1021/acs.langmuir.2c03381",
  issn="0743-7463",
  url="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.langmuir.2c03381"
}