title: Uni-Directional Transportation on Peristome-Mimetic Surfaces for Completely Wetting Liquids.
abstract: Liquid uni-directional transport on solid surface without energy input would advance a variety of applications, such as in bio-fluidic devices, self-lubrication, and high-resolution printing. Inspired by the liquid uni-directional transportation on the peristome surface of Nepenthes alata, here, we fabricated a peristome-mimicking surface through high-resolution stereo-lithography and demonstrated the detailed uni-directional transportation mechanism from a micro-scaled view visualized through X-ray microscopy. Significantly, an overflow-controlled liquid uni-directional transportation mechanism is proposed and demonstrated. Unlike the canonical predictions for completely wetting liquids spreading symmetrically on a high-energy surface, liquids with varied surface tensions and viscosities can spontaneously propagate in a single preferred direction and pin in all others. The fundamental understanding gained from this robust system enabled us to tailor advanced micro-computerized tomography scanning and stereo-lithography fabrication to mimic natural creatures and construct a wide variety of fluidic machines out of traditional materials.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Bio-inspired Smart Interface Sciences, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Zhongguancun East Road, 29, 100190, Beijing, P.R. China.|School of Chemistry and Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yuquan Road, 100049, Beijing, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Chuxin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Bio-inspired Smart Interface Sciences, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Zhongguancun East Road, 29, 100190, Beijing, P.R. China.|School of Chemistry and Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yuquan Road, 100049, Beijing, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Ning
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Bio-inspired Smart Interface Sciences, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Zhongguancun East Road, 29, 100190, Beijing, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xinshi
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Bio-inspired Smart Interface Sciences, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Zhongguancun East Road, 29, 100190, Beijing, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Zhichao
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.affiliation: School of Mechanical Engineering and Automation, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, China.
authors.forename: Huawei
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Bio-inspired Smart Interface Sciences, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Zhongguancun East Road, 29, 100190, Beijing, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jiang
keywords: bio-mimetic; computerized tomography; directional transportation; viscous liquids; wetting liquids