Flow in channels with superhydrophobic trapezoidal textures

TL;DR

This paper provides theoretical insights into optimizing flow and transverse hydrodynamic effects in channels with superhydrophobic trapezoidal textures, guiding the design of surfaces for microfluidic applications.

Contribution

It extends existing models to trapezoidal textures, analyzing flow permeability and anisotropy, and offers a framework for designing superhydrophobic surfaces.

Findings

Permeability of trapezoidal textures is equivalent to striped textures with higher average slip.

Maximum transverse flow occurs at finite slip for textures with small solid fractions.

Lubrication theory applies beyond thin gaps but overestimates permeability and underestimates flow anisotropy.

Abstract

Superhydrophobic one-dimensional surfaces reduce drag and generate transverse hydrodynamic phenomena by combining hydrophobicity and roughness to trap gas bubbles in microscopic textures. Recent works in this area have focused on specific cases of superhydrophobic stripes. Here we provide some theoretical results to guide the optimization of the forward flow and transverse hydrodynamic phenomena in a parallel-plate channel with a superhydrophobic trapezoidal texture, varying on scales larger than the channel thickness. The permeability of such a thin channel is shown to be equivalent to that of a striped one with greater average slip. The maximization of a transverse flow normally requires largest possible slip at the gas areas, similarly to a striped channel. However, in case of trapezoidal textures with a very small fraction of the solid phase this maximum occurs at a finite slip at the gas areas. Exact numerical calculations show that our analysis, based on a lubrication theory, can also be applied for a larger gap. However, in this case it overestimates a permeability of the channel, and underestimates an anisotropy of the flow. Our results provide a framework for the rational design of superhydrophobic surfaces for microfluidic applications.