Realization of Self‐Rotating Droplets Based on Liquid Metal. Issue 3 (13th December 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wang, Zhanlong; Wang, Xiaohe; Miao, Qing; Zhao, Ya‐Pu
• Is Part Of: Advanced materials interfaces. Volume 8:Issue 3(2021)
• Page Start: n/a
• Page End: n/a
• Publication Date: 2020-12-13
• Subjects: bubbles -- collective motion -- liquid metals -- self‐propulsion -- self‐rotating droplets -- spontaneous rotation; Materials science -- Periodicals; 620.11
• DOI: 10.1002/admi.202001756
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2196-7350

Abstract

Abstract: Owing to their fascinating characteristics, liquid metals (LMs) have attracted increasing attention from the scientific community, and are a potential material for various applications. A novel phenomenon is reported in which an acid droplet spontaneously rotates on the surface of an LM. The experimental results show that this phenomenon originates from the collective motion of bubbles generated by the chemical reactions between the droplet and the LM. The angular velocity of the droplet rotation is on the order of 10 1 rad s −1, which is much higher than that driven by other mechanisms. Under different conditions, the period of the droplet differs, and it increases with the pH and radius of the acid droplet. The theoretical results indicate the dominant factors and the characterized angular velocity, which agree well with the experimental data. This phenomenon demonstrate that the general particles can also induce special spatial–temporal patterns, and opens up a new field for the application of LMs. Abstract : Self‐rotation is an important aspect of droplet self‐propulsion. By employing the Leidenfrost effect and collective motion of active particles, the spontaneous rotation of acid solution droplet is realized. This rotation has a faster angular velocity than that driven by other mechanisms. It enables direct conversion of chemical energy into kinetic energy to drive an object to rotate.