Switchable wettability for smart fluid control: from active electric field-controlled actuation to intrinsic adaptability and responsiveness

Description

The wettability of solid surfaces is an essential boundary condition for controlling mass transport in three-phase systems. Consequently, tools to manipulate surface wettability have attracted considerable attention since the advent of microstructuring technologies. In this lecture, I will discuss two different concepts of wettability alteration beyond passive surface patterning: in the first part, I will explain the concept of electrowetting and illustrate its power for active drop control and electric field-controlled manipulation of fluid interfaces at complex surfaces with applications including enhanced mixing, improved analytical detection, optofluidics, and enhanced heat transfer. In the second part, I will discuss how adaptive wetting of polymer brushes in response to external stimuli enables unique nano-scale fluid transport, including adaptive enhanced oil supply in advanced grease lubrication systems.

Period	19 Jun 2025
Event title	SFB Colloquium 2025
Event type	Seminar
Location	Hamburg, GermanyShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International