Chemical Gradients on Graphene to Drive Droplet Motion

Abstract

This work demonstrates the production of a well-controlled, chemical gradient on the surface of graphene. By inducing a gradient of oxygen functional groups, drops of water and dimethyl-methylphosphonate (a nerve agent simulant) are pulled in the direction of increasing oxygen content, while fluorine gradients push the droplet motion in the direction of decreasing fluorine content. The direction of motion is broadly attributed to increasing/decreasing hydrophilicity, which is correlated to high/low adhesion and binding energy. Such tunability in surface chemistry provides additional capabilities in device design for applications ranging from microfluidics to chemical sensing.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 09, 2013
Accession Number
ADA592334

Entities

People

  • Brian D. Pate
  • Chad E. Junkermeier
  • Charlee J. Bennett
  • David R. Boris
  • Evgeniya H. Lock
  • Francisco J Bezares
  • Jeremy T. Robinson
  • Rory Stine
  • Sandra C. Hernandez
  • Stanislav D. Tsoi

Organizations

  • United States Naval Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Advanced Electronics

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Adhesion
  • Ceramic Materials
  • Chemical Synthesis
  • Chemistry
  • Density Functional Theory
  • Electron Beams
  • Energy
  • Fluorine
  • Hydrophilic Properties
  • Materials
  • Measurement
  • Spectra
  • Surface Chemistry
  • Surface Energy
  • Surface Properties
  • Two Dimensional
  • United States

Readers

  • Combustion science or combustion engineering.
  • Mathematics or Statistics
  • Tribology (the study of the boundary interaction between sliding surfaces, lubrication, wear and friction).

Technology Areas

  • Microelectronics
  • Microelectronics - Graphene
  • Microelectronics - Microelectromechanical Systems