Anisotropic flow in striped superhydrophobic channels

TL;DR

This paper combines simulations and theory to analyze anisotropic flow in superhydrophobic channels with striped textures, optimizing parameters for enhanced transverse flow and potential microfluidic applications.

Contribution

It introduces a semi-analytical model for anisotropic flow in superhydrophobic channels valid for various slip conditions and geometries, aiding in flow control and measurement.

Findings

Optimized stripe orientation and slip parameters for maximum transverse flow.

Developed a semi-analytical model applicable to different channel thicknesses.

Demonstrated potential for extracting slip tensors from global flow measurements.

Abstract

We report results of dissipative particle dynamics simulations and develop a semi-analytical theory of an anisotropic flow in a parallel-plate channel with two superhydrophobic striped walls. Our approach is valid for any local slip at the gas sectors and an arbitrary distance between the plates, ranging from a thick to a thin channel. It allows us to optimize area fractions, slip lengths, channel thickness and texture orientation to maximize a transverse flow. Our results may be useful for extracting effective slip tensors from global measurements, such as the permeability of a channel, in experiments or simulations, and may also find applications in passive microfluidic mixing.