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Chen F, Cheng Z, Gao C, Li C, Zhang C, Yu C, Dong Z, Jiang L. Capillarity Constructed Open Siphon for Sustainable Drainage. Small 2024:e2307079. [PMID: 38700056 DOI: 10.1002/smll.202307079] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2023] [Revised: 04/23/2024] [Indexed: 05/05/2024]
Abstract
Siphon is an effective method to transfer liquid from a higher to a lower level, which has many applications in hygienic design, clinical apparatus, and hydraulic engineering. Traditional operation requires energy to overcome gravity and establish flow in a closed system. Achieving sustainable high flux siphon drainage without energy input remains a challenge due to viscous dissipation. Here, an unexpected open siphon behavior on the South American pitcher plant Heliamphora minor consisting of trichomes covered pitcher and a wedge-shaped sheath is examined. Exploiting the concept of Digital Twin, a new biomimetic research method by transforming the biological sample to a virtual 3D model is proposed and unveiled that maintained connection of wicking on sub-millimeter long trichomes due to asymmetric pressure distribution and ascending in wedge sheath under unbalanced pressure forms continuous surface flow. Exploring this mechanism, a biomimetic siphon device achieving continuous high flux exposed to ambient air is constructed. Besides, particles floating on the meniscus in the outside wedge move under a curvature gradient as water ascends, which implies a biological nutrient capture method and new dust collection manner in the drainage system. Applying the underlying principle enhances the siphon efficiency of floor drains and has the potential for other liquid transfer device design improvements.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fenglin Chen
- CAS Key Laboratory of Bio-inspired Materials and Interfacial Science, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China
- School of Future Technology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Ziyang Cheng
- CAS Key Laboratory of Bio-inspired Materials and Interfacial Science, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China
- School of Future Technology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Can Gao
- CAS Key Laboratory of Bio-inspired Materials and Interfacial Science, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China
- School of Future Technology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Chuxin Li
- Suzhou Institute for Advanced Research, University of Science and Technology of China, Suzhou, Jiangsu, 215123, China
| | - Chengqi Zhang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Bio-inspired Materials and Interfacial Science, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China
| | - Cunlong Yu
- CAS Key Laboratory of Bio-inspired Materials and Interfacial Science, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China
| | - Zhichao Dong
- CAS Key Laboratory of Bio-inspired Materials and Interfacial Science, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China
- School of Future Technology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Lei Jiang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Bio-inspired Materials and Interfacial Science, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China
- School of Future Technology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
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Chen F, Cheng Z, Jiang L, Dong Z. Capillary Wicking on Heliamphora minor-Mimicking Mesoscopic Trichomes Array. Biomimetics (Basel) 2024; 9:102. [PMID: 38392148 PMCID: PMC10887133 DOI: 10.3390/biomimetics9020102] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2024] [Revised: 01/31/2024] [Accepted: 02/06/2024] [Indexed: 02/24/2024] Open
Abstract
Liquid spontaneously spreads on rough lyophilic surfaces, and this is driven by capillarity and defined as capillary wicking. Extensive studies on microtextured surfaces have been applied to microfluidics and their corresponding manufacturing. However, the imbibition at mesoscale roughness has seldom been studied due to lacking fabrication techniques. Inspired by the South American pitcher plant Heliamphora minor, which wicks water on its pubescent inside wall for lubrication and drainage, we implemented 3D printing to fabricate a mimetic mesoscopic trichomes array and investigated the high-flux capillary wicking process. Unlike a uniformly thick climbing film on a microtextured surface, the interval filling of millimeter-long and submillimeter-pitched trichomes creates a film of non-uniform thickness. Different from the viscous dissipation that dominated the spreading on microtextured surfaces, we unveiled an inertia-dominated transition regime with mesoscopic wicking dynamics and constructed a scaling law such that the height grows to 2/3 the power of time for various conditions. Finally, we examined the mass transportation inside the non-uniformly thick film, mimicking a plant nutrition supply method, and realized an open system siphon in the film, with the flux saturation condition experimentally determined. This work explores capillary wicking in mesoscopic structures and has potential applications in the design of low-cost high-flux open fluidics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fenglin Chen
- CAS Key Laboratory of Bio-Inspired Materials and Interfacial Science, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
- School of Future Technology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Ziyang Cheng
- CAS Key Laboratory of Bio-Inspired Materials and Interfacial Science, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
- School of Future Technology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Lei Jiang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Bio-Inspired Materials and Interfacial Science, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
- School of Future Technology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Zhichao Dong
- CAS Key Laboratory of Bio-Inspired Materials and Interfacial Science, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
- School of Future Technology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
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