Wonjae Choi

Hygro-responsive membranes for effective oil-water separation.

There is a critical need for new energy-efficient solutions to separate oil-water mixtures, especially those stabilized by surfactants. Traditional membrane-based separation technologies are energy-intensive and limited, either by fouling or by the inability of a single membrane to separate all types of oil-water mixtures. Here we report membranes with hygro-responsive surfaces, which are both superhydrophilic and superoleophobic, in air and under water. Our membranes can separate, for the first time, a range of different oil-water mixtures in a single-unit operation, with >99.9% separation efficiency, by using the difference in capillary forces acting on the two phases. Our separation methodology is solely gravity-driven and consequently is expected to be highly energy-efficient. We anticipate that our separation methodology will have numerous applications, including the clean-up of oil spills, wastewater treatment, fuel purification and the separation of commercially relevant emulsions.

Recovery of nonwetting characteristics by surface modification of gallium-based liquid metal droplets using hydrochloric acid vapor

The applicability of gallium-based liquid metal alloy has been limited by the oxidation problem. In this paper, we report a simple method to remove the oxide layer on the surface of such alloy to recover its nonwetting characteristics, using hydrochloric acid (HCl) vapor. Through the HCl vapor treatment, we successfully restored the nonwetting characteristics of the alloy and suppressed its viscoelasticity. We analyzed the change of surface chemistry before and after the HCl vapor treatment using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and low-energy ion-scattering spectroscopy (LEIS). Results showed that the oxidized surface of the commercial gallium-based alloy Galinstan (Ga(2)O(3) and Ga(2)O) was replaced with InCl(3) and GaCl(3) after the treatment. Surface tension and static contact angle on a Teflon-coated glass of the HCl-vapor-treated Galinstan were measured to be 523.8 mN/m and 152.5°. A droplet bouncing test was successfully carried out to demonstrate the nonwetting characteristics of the HCl-vapor-treated Galinstan. Finally, the stability of the transformed surface of the HCl-vapor-treated Galinstan was investigated by measuring the contact angle and LEIS spectra after reoxidation in an ambient environment.

A Super-Lyophobic 3-D PDMS Channel as a Novel Microfluidic Platform to Manipulate Oxidized Galinstan

We report a 3-D super-lyophobic polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microfluidic channel patterned with an array of multi-scale surface texture as a novel microfluidic platform to mobilize naturally oxidized Galinstan. Galinstan is a liquid metal that has multiple advantages over mercury such as non-toxicity, higher thermal conductivity, and lower electrical resistivity. However, Galinstan gets easily oxidized in an air environment and it becomes a viscoelastic liquid that wets almost any solid surface. We studied the feasibility of developing super-lyophobic surfaces against Galinstan, using various flat and textured surfaces including PDMS micropillar and microridge arrays by measuring static and dynamic contact angles. The highest advancing angle of 175 ° and receding angle of 163 ° were achieved on a surface patterned with micropillars, each of which was textured with additional roughness. Pitch distance between pillars was 175 μm. An extremely simple PDMS-PDMS bonding technique was used to fabricate a 3-D super-lyophobic channel structure as a microfluidic platform for oxidized Galinstan droplets. The driving force to actuate a ~ 3-μL Galinstan droplet in the 3-D super-lyophobic channel was 3.11±0.23 mN.

Stretchable and bendable carbon nanotube on PDMS super-lyophobic sheet for liquid metal manipulation

We report a vertically-aligned carbon nanotube (CNT) forest on polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) sheet as a novel widely stretchable and bendable anti-wetting super-lyophobic surface for naturally oxidized gallium-based liquid metals. The vertically-aligned CNT has inherent chemical inertness and a hierarchical texture combining micro/nanoscale roughness; these two characters render the developed sheet as a super-lyophobic substrate against gallium-based liquid metals. The vertically-aligned CNT forest was first grown on Si substrate and then transferred onto a PDMS sheet by imprinting. It was found that the transferred CNT on the PDMS sheet maintained its vertically-aligned nature as well as hierarchical micro/nano surface morphology. It was found that the static contact angles of the gallium-based liquid metal droplet on the CNT on Si and on the CNT on PDMS were both greater than 155° and the contact angle hysteresis on the CNT on Si was 4° and that on the transferred CNT on PDMS was 19°. These measurement results showed that the surface retains a super-lyophobic property before and after the CNT transfer onto PDMS. We tested the CNT on PDMS sheet for its mechanical flexibility using stretching (50% and 100%) and bending (curvature of 0.1 and 0.4 mm−1). We carried out a bouncing test and a rolling test on the stretched/bent CNT on the PDMS sheet and the results confirmed that the flexible sheet maintains anti-wetting characteristics under bending or stretching conditions.

Drop impact on inclined superhydrophobic surfaces

This paper discusses the dynamic behavior of water drops impacting on inclined superhydrophobic surfaces. For a normal impact on a smooth hydrophobic surface, the spreading (or expansion) and retraction dynamics of an impacting drop varies from complete rebound to splashing depending on its Weber number, (We(d)), calculated using the impact speed and diameter d of the drop. For a slanted impact, on the other hand, the impact dynamics depends on two distinct Weber numbers, based on the velocity components normal, (We(nd)), and tangential, (We(td)), to the surface. Impact on superhydrophobic surfaces is even more complicated as the surfaces are covered with micro- to nano-scale texture. Therefore, we develop an expression for an additional set of two Weber numbers, (We(na), We(ta)), which are counterparts to the first set but use the gap distance a between asperities on the textured surface as the characteristic length. We correlate the derived Weber numbers with the impact dynamics on tilted surfaces covered with three different types of texture: (i) posts, (ii) ridges aligned with and (iii) ridges perpendicular to the impact direction. Results suggest that the first two Weber numbers, (We(nd), We(td)), affect the impact dynamics of a drop such as the degree of drop deformation as long as the superhydrophobicity remains intact. On the other hand, the Weber number We(na) determines the transition from the superhydrophobic Cassie-Baxter regime to the fully-wetted Wenzel regime. Accuracy of our model becomes lower at a high tilting angle (75°), due to the change in the transition mechanism.

A super-lyophobic PDMS micro-tunnel as a novel microfluidic platform for oxidized Galinstan®

We report a micro pillar array-based super-lyophobic poly(dimethyl siloxane) (PDMS) micro-tunnel as a novel microfluidic platform for oxidized Galinstan^®. Liquid-metal alloy, Galinstan^® was expected to be widely utilized in many MEMS applications due to its favorable properties. However, the fact that Galinstan_® gets easily oxidized and wets on almost nearly any surface is the difficult challenge for utilization of Galinstan^®. We studied various pitch distance micro pillar arrays and evaluated lyophobicity of Galinstan^® using static contact angle and sliding angle. A unique approach to fabricate 3-dimensional (3-D) lyophobic micro-tunnel structure was designed using flexible PDMS, which can overcome the limitation of current lithography techniques. It was demonstrated the movement of oxidized Galinstan^® without wetting.

Gallium-based liquid metal inkjet printing

We report clog-free and oxide-free metal inkjet printing applicable to flexible electronics using gallium-based liquid metal alloy. Inkjet printing has been developed and expanded to make a pattern of either non-conductive or conductive materials. In order to print typical conductive material, it utilizes metal nanoparticle dispersed in solvent or melts the metal. However, those methods often encounters clogging and oxidation problem. We fabricated a simple polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) based inkjet printer incorporated with hydrochloric acid (HCl)-impregnated paper as orifice material. A constant stream of gallium-based liquid metal alloy droplet was demonstrated using the inkjet printer. Depending on the applied flow rate, pinch off and Rayleigh instability phenomena were observed. We printed beads-on-string shape gallium-based liquid metal alloy line on various flexible substrates such as Si wafer, PDMS, and a paper. Finally, it was demonstrated that the inkjet-printed gallium-based liquid metal can maintain its line shape without disconnection even with the significant deformation of a flexible paper.

Real-time dynamically reconfigurable liquid metal based photolithography

We report real-time dynamically reconfigurable photomask by manipulating gallium-based liquid metal in microfluidic channel. As a demonstration of reconfigurable photomask, a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) based 7-segments microfluidic channel was designed and fabricated. With on-demand injection and withdrawal of gallium-based liquid metal in each segment channel, single digit numbers (`0 to `9) were dynamically reconfigured. For i-line and 400 nm wavelength UV lights, PDMS showed > 93% of light transmittance while PDMS + Galinstan® showed <; 1 % of the light transmittance. In order to investigate achievable minimum feature size, various sizes of line shape, a horse shoe shape and Texas state map shape were demonstrated. The minimum feature size reliably and reproducibly created was 10 μm with the current approach.

Difference in growth and coalescing patterns of droplets on bi-philic surfaces with varying spatial distribution

This paper reports the condensation and subsequent motion of water droplets on bi-philic surfaces, surfaces that are patterned with regions of different wettability. Bi-philic surfaces can enhance the water collection efficiency: droplets condensing on hydrophobic regions wick into hydrophilic drain channels when droplets grow to a certain size, renewing the condensation on the dry hydrophobic region. The onset of drain phenomenon can be triggered by multiple events with distinct nature ranging from gravity, direct contact between a droplet and a drain channel, to a mutual coalescence between droplets. This paper focuses on the effect of the length scale of hydrophobic regions on the dynamics of mutual coalescence between droplets and subsequent drainage. The main hypothesis was that, when the drop size is sufficient, the kinetic energy associated with a coalescence of droplets may cause dynamic advancing of a newly formed drop, leading to further coalescence with nearby droplets and ultimately to a chain reaction. We fabricate bi-philic surfaces with hydrophilic and hydrophobic stripes, and the result confirms that coalescing droplets, when the length scale of droplets increases beyond 0.2mm, indeed display dynamic expansion and chain reaction. Multiple droplets can thus migrate to hydrophilic drain simultaneously even when the initial motion of the droplets was not triggered by the direct contact between the droplet and the hydrophilic drain. Efficiency of drain due to mutual coalescence of droplets varies depending on the length scale of bi-philic patterns, and the drain phenomenon reaches its peak when the width of hydrophobic stripes is between 800μm and 1mm. The Ohnesorge number of droplets draining on noted surfaces is between 0.0042 and 0.0037 respectively. The observed length scale of bi-philic patterns matches that on the Stenocara beetles fog harvesting back surface. This match between length scales suggests that the surface of the insect is optimized for the drain of harvested water.

Cost-effective surface modification for Galinstan® lyophobicity

In this paper we investigate the feasibility of using a cost-effective fabrication method based on sandblasting, chemical etching and spray coating processes, to render common surfaces to be non-wettable by Galinstan®. Although Galinstan® is a non-toxic liquid metal alternative to mercury, the viscoelastic and extremely wetting characteristics of Galinstan® have been the major bottleneck limiting the wide applicability of the gallium-based liquid metal. This paper tries to accomplish non-wettability to Galinstan® by combining surface texture and chemistry with the unique property of Galinstan®, that is, its high surface tension and yield strength that prevent the penetration of the liquid metal into surface asperities. Fabricated surfaces resemble traditional superhydrophobic (water-repellent) surfaces, and exhibit a superior non-wettability to Galinstan® as quantified by high static and dynamic contact angles, small hysteresis, as well as impact resistance. Reported fabrication method based on sandblasting, etching and spray coating is easily applicable to various surfaces ranging from metals, ceramics, to plastics and is scalable to large surfaces.