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Small water droplets or particles located at an oil meniscus typically climb the meniscus due to unbalanced capillary forces. Here, we introduce a size-dependent reversal of this meniscus-climbing behavior, where upon cooling of the underlying substrate, droplets of different sizes concurrently ascend and descend the meniscus. We show that microscopic Marangoni convection cells within the oil meniscus are responsible for this phenomenon. While dynamics of relatively larger water microdroplets are still dominated by unbalanced capillary forces and hence ascend the meniscus, smaller droplets are carried by the surface flow and consequently descend the meniscus. We further demonstrate that the magnitude and direction of the convection cells depend on the meniscus geometry and the substrate temperature and introduce a modified Marangoni number that well predicts their strength. Our findings provide a new approach to manipulating droplets on a liquid meniscus that could have applications in material self-assembly, biological sensing and testing, or phase change heat transfer. 

Controlled trapping of cells and microorganisms using substrate acoustic waves (SAWs; conventionally termed surface acoustic waves) has proven useful in numerous biological and biomedical applications owing to the label- and contact-free nature of acoustic confinement. However, excessive heating due to vibration damping and other system losses potentially compromises the biocompatibility of the SAW technique. Herein, we investigate the thermal biocompatibility of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-based SAW and glass-based SAW [that supports a bulk acoustic wave (BAW) in the fluid domain] devices operating at different frequencies and applied voltages. First, we use infrared thermography to produce heat maps of regions of interest (ROI) within the aperture of the SAW transducers for PDMS- and glass-based devices. Motile Chlamydomonas reinhardtii algae cells are then used to test the trapping performance and biocompatibility of these devices. At low input power, the PDMS-based SAW system cannot generate a large enough acoustic trapping force to hold swimming C. reinhardtii cells. At high input power, the temperature of this device rises rapidly, damaging (and possibly killing) the cells. The glass-based SAW/BAW hybrid system, on the other hand, can not only trap swimming C. reinhardtii at low input power, but also exhibits better thermal biocompatibility than the PDMS-based SAW system at high input power. Thus, a glass-based SAW/BAW device creates strong acoustic trapping forces in a biocompatible environment, providing a new solution to safely trap active microswimmers for research involving motile cells and microorganisms. 

Abstract Boiling heat transfer serves as an efficient mechanism to dissipate large amounts of thermal energy due to the latent heat of phase change. In academic studies, typically ultra-pure deionized (DI) water is used to avoid contamination. However, in industrial and commercial settings, the working fluid might be contaminated with sediments, dust, salts, or organic matter. Long-term boiling processes in non-DI water cause substantial build-up of a stable layer of deposit that dramatically reduces the heat transfer coefficient. Therefore, heating applications in a contaminated medium demand strategies to prevent such fouling. Here, we studied the use of lubricant infused surfaces (LIS) and their ability to possibly minimize the deposition of calcium sulfate. Aluminum samples were infused with Krytox 102 oil and the heat transfer coefficient was investigated at a vertical and horizontal surface orientation. Fouling effects were introduced by pool boiling for 7.5 hours in a 6.97 mM calcium sulfate solution at constant heat flux. Heat flux curves for both plain aluminum and LIS were calibrated before contamination. Initially, the LIS was unable to support a nucleate phase and transitioned directly from liquid convection to film boiling heat transfer. Upon partial degradation of the lubricant layer during long-run experiments, nucleate boiling ensued. Over 7.5 hours, the heat transfer coefficient of each sample (Al and LIS) degraded between 5.4% and 7.9% with no significant correlation with either lubricant treatment or surface orientation. Post boiling profilometry was conducted on each sample to characterize the thickness and distribution of the calcium sulfate layer. In these experiments, the plain aluminum surface outperformed the LIS at both orientations in minimizing calcium layer thickness. The LIS oriented vertically outperformed the LIS oriented horizontally.