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 , a scaling favorable to miniaturization which suggests a new way of mass production of 3D micro- or nanoscale objects.
- Received 27 November 2006
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.98.156103
©2007 American Physical Society