Digital microfluidics (DMF) represent an important subfield of microfluidics due to the ability to resolve complex processes into a sequence of programmable discrete steps with small liquid volumes. The most commonly used surfaces for liquid actuation have an unstructured hydrophobic layer as the top-coat having biofouling as a main obstacle. In this work we present a novel material, Fluoropor a nanofoamed Fluoropolymer that can be easily fabricated, coated and utilized for DMF. Fluoropor-films were fabricated with different porosities simply by adjusting the ratio of added porogens. The fabricated films ware integrated in a commercial DMF-device and it was shown that droplets can be moved and merged on top of a 22 μm thick Fluoropor-coating.
Superhydrophobic surfaces and coatings are of high interest for numerous applications. Inspired from the lotus effect in nature, where droplets easily slide off a surface, due to the formation of an air layer (Salvinia layer) between droplet and surface, superhydrophobic surfaces can be fabricated. For water-immersed structures, especially under dynamic conditions, the stabilization of the Salvinia layer on the superhydrophobic surfaces is of great importance. Due to the shear applied on such structures, the long-term stability of these surfaces necessitates precise measurement of the IDT electrode coated by a 50 μm Fluoropor layer, a transparent, fluorinated polymer foam. We measured Salvinia layer decomposition under low and high shear stress imposed in an aquatic flow cell. Moreover, the current sensor detects the degradation of Salvinia layer and regaining of that by pumping air when shear is applied.
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