Energy Invariance in Capillary Systems

Élfego Ruiz-Gutiérrez, Jian H. Guan, Ben Xu, Glen McHale, Gary G. Wells, and Rodrigo Ledesma-Aguilar
Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 218003 – Published 26 May 2017
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Abstract

We demonstrate the continuous translational invariance of the energy of a capillary surface in contact with reconfigurable solid boundaries. We present a theoretical approach to find the energy-invariant equilibria of spherical capillary surfaces in contact with solid boundaries of arbitrary shape and examine the implications of dynamic frictional forces upon a reconfiguration of the boundaries. Experimentally, we realize our ideas by manipulating the position of a droplet in a wedge geometry using lubricant-impregnated solid surfaces, which eliminate the contact-angle hysteresis and provide a test bed for quantifying dissipative losses out of equilibrium. Our experiments show that dissipative energy losses for an otherwise energy-invariant reconfiguration are relatively small, provided that the actuation time scale is longer than the typical relaxation time scale of the capillary surface. We discuss the wider applicability of our ideas as a pathway for liquid manipulation at no potential energy cost in low-pinning, low-friction situations.

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  • Received 22 February 2017

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.218003

© 2017 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Fluid DynamicsPolymers & Soft MatterGeneral Physics

Authors & Affiliations

Élfego Ruiz-Gutiérrez, Jian H. Guan, Ben Xu, Glen McHale, Gary G. Wells, and Rodrigo Ledesma-Aguilar*

  • Smart Materials and Surfaces Laboratory, Faculty of Engineering and Environment, Northumbria University, Ellison Place, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8ST, United Kingdom

  • *rodrigo.ledesma@northumbria.ac.uk

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Issue

Vol. 118, Iss. 21 — 26 May 2017

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