While there are many droplet manipulation techniques, all of them suffer from at least one of the following drawbacks - complex fabrication or complex equipment or liquid loss. In this work, a simple and portable technique is demonstrated that enables on-demand, contact-less and loss-less manipulation of liquid droplets through a combination of contact electrification and slipperiness. In conjunction with numerical simulations, a quantitative analysis is presented to explain the onset of droplet motion. Utilizing the contact electrification technique, contact-less and loss-less manipulation of polar and non-polar liquid droplets on different surface chemistries and geometries is demonstrated. It is envisioned that the technique can pave the way to simple, inexpensive, and portable lab on a chip and point of care devices.
Keywords: adhesion; contact electrification; droplet manipulation; electrostatic force; slippery surface.
© 2024 The Authors. Advanced Science published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.