Collective Wetting of a Natural Fibrous System and Its Application in Pump-Free Droplet Transfer

Novel wetting strategies in plants have inspired numerous notable biomimetic surfaces over the past decade, such as self-cleaning surfaces mimicking the water repellency of lotus leaves and directional water transport surfaces imitating the slippery surface on carnivorous plants. Here, a new wetting behavior in dandelion seed (genus Taraxacum) is found, characterized by capturing a droplet inside it. The critical conditions required for wetting of the fiber assay in terms of the fibrous geometry and liquid surface tension are identified, and how these factors quantitatively affect the volume of the captured droplet is shown further. More importantly, the reverse process can be triggered by introducing a competitive liquid phase with smaller surface tension to the wetted fiber assay, as it is demonstrated by the release of the captured water droplet in oil. These results enhance the understanding on wetting of fibrous structures and would benefit the design of novel intelligent and responsive devices. This newly identified wetting behavior holds great potential for fine control and micromanipulation of liquid. As a demonstration, it is illustrated that the natural fibrous structure is capable of manipulating a small volume of liquid for droplet-based multiplexed chemical reaction.