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Visible light guided manipulation of liquid wettability on photoresponsive surfaces

Author

Listed:
  • Gibum Kwon

    (Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    Present address: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66045, USA)

  • Divya Panchanathan

    (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

  • Seyed Reza Mahmoudi

    (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

  • Mohammed A. Gondal

    (King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals)

  • Gareth H. McKinley

    (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

  • Kripa K. Varanasi

    (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

Abstract

Photoresponsive titania surfaces are of great interest due to their unique wettability change upon ultraviolet light illumination. However, their applications are often limited either by the inability to respond to visible light or the need for special treatment to recover the original wettability. Sensitizing TiO2 surfaces with visible light-absorbing materials has been utilized in photovoltaic applications. Here we demonstrate that a dye-sensitized TiO2 surface can selectively change the wettability towards contacting liquids upon visible light illumination due to a photo-induced voltage across the liquid and the underlying surface. The photo-induced wettability change of our surfaces enables external manipulation of liquid droplet motion upon illumination. We show demulsification of surfactant-stabilized brine-in-oil emulsions via coalescence of brine droplets on our dye-sensitized TiO2 surface upon visible light illumination. We anticipate that our surfaces will have a wide range of applications including microfluidic devices with customizable wettability, solar-driven oil–water clean-up and demulsification technologies.

Suggested Citation

  • Gibum Kwon & Divya Panchanathan & Seyed Reza Mahmoudi & Mohammed A. Gondal & Gareth H. McKinley & Kripa K. Varanasi, 2017. "Visible light guided manipulation of liquid wettability on photoresponsive surfaces," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 8(1), pages 1-8, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:8:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms14968
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms14968
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    Cited by:

    1. Jianqiang Zhang & Xuejiao Wang & Zhaoyue Wang & Shangfa Pan & Bo Yi & Liqing Ai & Jun Gao & Frieder Mugele & Xi Yao, 2021. "Wetting ridge assisted programmed magnetic actuation of droplets on ferrofluid-infused surface," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-8, December.

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