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Abstract Achieving mobile liquid droplets on solid surfaces is crucial for various practical applications, such as self‐cleaning and anti‐fouling coatings. The last two decades have witnessed remarkable progress in designing functional surfaces, including super‐repellent surfaces and lubricant‐infused surfaces, which allow droplets to roll/slide on the surfaces. However, it remains a challenge to enable droplet motion on hydrophilic solid surfaces. In this work, we demonstrate mobile droplets containing ionic surfactants on smooth hydrophilic surfaces that are charged similarly to surfactant molecules. The ionic surfactant‐laden droplets display ultra‐low contact angle and ultra‐low sliding angle simultaneously on the hydrophilic surfaces. The sliding of the droplet is enabled by the adsorbed surfactant ahead of three‐phase contact line, which is regulated by the electrostatic interaction between ionic surfactant and charged solid surface. The droplet can maintain its motion even when the hydrophilic surface has defects. Furthermore, we demonstrate controlled manipulation of ionic surfactant‐laden droplets on hydrophilic surfaces with different patterns. We envision that our simple technique for achieving mobile droplets on hydrophilic surfaces can pave the way to novel slippery surfaces for different applications.more » « lessFree, publicly-accessible full text available April 1, 2026
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Free, publicly-accessible full text available January 1, 2026
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Free, publicly-accessible full text available December 1, 2025
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Abstract Plant cellulose microfibrils are increasingly employed to produce functional nanofibers and nanocrystals for biomaterials, but their catalytic formation and conversion mechanisms remain elusive. Here, we characterize length-reduced cellulose nanofibers assembly in situ accounting for the high density of amorphous cellulose regions in the natural rice fragile culm 16 ( Osfc16 ) mutant defective in cellulose biosynthesis using both classic and advanced atomic force microscopy (AFM) techniques equipped with a single-molecular recognition system. By employing individual types of cellulases, we observe efficient enzymatic catalysis modes in the mutant, due to amorphous and inner-broken cellulose chains elevated as breakpoints for initiating and completing cellulose hydrolyses into higher-yield fermentable sugars. Furthermore, effective chemical catalysis mode is examined in vitro for cellulose nanofibers conversion into nanocrystals with reduced dimensions. Our study addresses how plant cellulose substrates are digestible and convertible, revealing a strategy for precise engineering of cellulose substrates toward cost-effective biofuels and high-quality bioproducts.more » « less
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