Partially Substrateless Microchannels for Direct Monitoring of Interfacial Dynamics in Hydrophobic Surfaces
Creator Name: Bold, Ellen
Creator Name: Oesterschulze, Egbert
Creator Name: Zimmermann, Sebastian
Creator Name: Schönecker, Clarissa
Affiliation: Rheinland-Pfälzische Technische Universität Kaiserslautern-Landau
Publisher: Rheinland-Pfälzische Technische Universität Kaiserslautern-Landau
Year: 2025
Resource Type: dataset
Language: en
Rights: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
Abstract: Superhydrophobic and liquid-infused surfaces are the most prominent techniques to achieve drag reduction in microchannels. However, they have specific drawbacks such as costly fabrication of complex and mechanically sensitive surfaces, surfaces susceptible to lubricant abrasion or involve hazardous chemicals. We present a partially substrateless microchannel whose upper wall features a large no-shear air/water meniscus at atmospheric pressure. On the walls, a self-assembled monolayer of hydrophobic alkyl silane was bonded covalently. Flow experiments reveal a drag reduction of up to 25% although only 4% of the wall fulfils the no-shear condition. These experiments demonstrated long-term stability and self-healing properties. Furthermore, White Light Interferometry (WLI) was used for direct monitoring of interfacial dynamics. By optical investigation of the full meniscus topography the contact-free evaluation of the spatially resolved static pressure distribution was possible. Conducted numerical simulations are in good agreement with the experimental findings and illustrate the drag reduction mechanism.
Funder Name: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
simulation no-slip interface PSC.zip
simulation no-slip interface PSC.zip.md5
simulation shear-free interface PSC.zip