Droplet mixing using electrically tunable superhydrophobic nanostructured surfaces (01 July 2009)

We demonstrate effective mixing of microliter droplets using electrically tunable superhydrophobic nanostructured surfaces. By applying electrical voltage and current, droplets can be reversibly switched from a wetting to a non-wetting state, which induces fluid motion within the droplet. 

This mixing concept was verified using a DNA hybridization assay, in which a single droplet reversibility accelerated the hybridization reaction by an order of magnitude as compared to mixing by passive diffusion. This work offers a new method to effectively mix droplets for a variety of microfluidics applications.