Electrically controlled membranes exploiting cassie-wenzel wetting transitions

Edward Bormashenko, Roman Pogreb, Sagi Balter, Doron Aurbach

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

20 Scopus citations

Abstract

We report electrically controlled membranes which become permeable when an electrical field is exerted on a droplet deposited on the membrane. Micro-porous polycarbonate membranes are obtained with the breath-figures assembly technique, using micro-scaled stainless steel gauzes as supports. The membranes demonstrate pronounced Cassie-Baxter wetting. Air cushions trapped by the droplet prevent water penetration through the membrane. We demonstrate two possibilities for controlling the permeability of the membrane, namely contact and non-contact scenarios. When an electrical field is exerted on a droplet deposited on the membrane, the triple-line is de-pinned and the wetting transition occurs in the non-contact scheme. Thus, the membrane becomes permeable. The contact scheme of the permeability control is based on the electrowetting phenomenon.

Original languageEnglish
Article number3028
JournalScientific Reports
Volume3
DOIs
StatePublished - 23 Oct 2013

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