Micromachines form oil slick-blocking 'virtual wall'

This development will have future implications in the guided delivery of oil and effective blockage of oil spreading.

‘Our work is based on micro/nanoelectromechanical systems, or M/NEMS, which can be thought of as miniaturised electrical or mechanical structures that allow researchers to conduct their work on the micro/nanoscopic level,’ said Jae Kwon, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering in the College of Engineering at MU. ‘Oil-based materials or low-surface tension liquids, which can wet any surface and spread very easily, pose challenges to researchers who need to control those tiny oil droplets on microdevices.’

Oil-based compounds are referred to as low-surface tension liquids because they tend to spread on the surface of a researcher’s microscope slides or microarrays where the liquids are placed.

Additionally oil can stick and easily spread out on any surface.

Using specially designed oil-repellent surfaces, Kwon and his group demonstrated invisible ‘virtual walls’ which block spreading of low-surface tension liquids at the boundary line with microscopic features already created in the device.