title: Capillary origami: spontaneous wrapping of a droplet with an elastic sheet.
abstract: The interaction between elasticity and capillarity is used to produce three-dimensional structures through the wrapping of a liquid droplet by a planar sheet. The final encapsulated 3D shape is controlled by tailoring the initial geometry of the flat membrane. Balancing interfacial energy with elastic bending energy provides a critical length scale below which encapsulation cannot occur, which is verified experimentally. This length is found to depend on the thickness as h3/2, a scaling favorable to miniaturization which suggests a new way of mass production of 3D micro- or nanoscale objects.
authors.affiliation: Physique et Mécanique des Milieux Hétérogènes, ESPCI, Paris 6, Paris 7, UMR CNRS 7636, 75231 Paris cedex 5, France.
authors.forename: Charlotte
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Py
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Reverdy
authors.forename: Lionel
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Doppler
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bico
authors.forename: Benoît
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Roman
authors.forename: Charles N
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Baroud