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Programmable capillary action controls fluid flows

A technological platform has been developed in which millimetre-scale cubes are assembled into 3D structures that control capillary action — enabling programmable fluid flows and modelling of a range of fluidic processes.
  1. Tammi L. van Neel

    1. Tammi L. van Neel is in the Department of Chemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA.

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  2. Ashleigh B. Theberge

    1. Ashleigh B. Theberge is in the Department of Chemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA, and in the Department of Urology, University of Washington.

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Scientists often draw inspiration from the world around them. In a paper in Nature, inspired by nature’s ability to efficiently perform processes involving multiple phases of matter, Dudukovic et al.1 present cellular fluidics: a technological platform in which many cubic building blocks with complex internal structures are assembled to guide fluid flow using capillary action. The authors use this platform to construct a variety of fluidic structures, and demonstrate that it can model important multiphase processes such as transpiration — by which trees absorb water through their roots and transport it to leaves at the tips of their branches, where it evaporates. Cellular fluidics also enables the fabrication of patterned multi-material structures, including objects that contain alternating electrically conducting and insulating regions.

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Nature 595, 31-32 (2021)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-01708-2

References

  1. Dudukovic, N. A. et al. Nature 595, 58–65 (2021).

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Competing Interests

A.B.T. declares ownership in Stacks to the Future, LLC, a company pursuing open microfluidic technologies. However, this technology is not featured in this publication.

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