Phys. Rev. E 77, 067301 (2008) [4 pages]Capillary filling in patterned channelsReceived 12 February 2008; published 17 June 2008 We show how the capillary filling of microchannels is affected by posts or ridges on the sides of the channels. Ridges perpendicular to the flow direction introduce contact line pinning, which slows, or sometimes prevents, filling, whereas ridges parallel to the flow provide extra surface that may enhance filling. Patterning the microchannel surface with square posts has little effect on the ability of a channel to fill for equilibrium contact angle θe≲30°. For θe≳60°, however, even a small number of posts can pin the advancing liquid front. © 2008 The American Physical Society URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevE.77.067301
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevE.77.067301
PACS:
47.61.−k, 47.55.nb, 68.08.Bc
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