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PreprintarXiv licencearXiv

Approaching the theoretical limit of wicking on textured surfaces

  • Zhaoyang Lv
  • Chen Ma
  • Li-Chen Huang
  • Yanshen Li
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Abstract

Wicking in a capillary tube could happen as long as the liquid contact angle is smaller than 90 degrees, making it possible for weak hydrophilic liquids to spontaneously invade the tube. For textured surfaces, energy minimization argument predicts the same. However, wicking of weak hydrophilic liquids on textured surfaces has not been possible due to energy barriers induced by the textures. We demonstrate how these barriers could be avoided by adjusting the shape and arrangement of the pillars, thus the wettability required for wicking reaches the theoretical limit. An unprecedented wicking contact angle of 82 degrees is reported. More surprisingly, wicking coefficients of such surfaces can be larger than that of rectangular grooves at the same porosity. These findings may significantly advance biomedical and thermal management technologies.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@misc{lv2026approaching,
  title = {{Approaching the theoretical limit of wicking on textured surfaces}},
  author = {Zhaoyang Lv and Chen Ma and Li-Chen Huang and Yanshen Li},
  howpublished = {arXiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = sep,
  doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2608.23487},
  eprint = {2608.23487},
  archivePrefix = {arXiv},
  url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.23487},
}
RIS
TY  - UNPB
TI  - Approaching the theoretical limit of wicking on textured surfaces
AU  - Zhaoyang Lv
AU  - Chen Ma
AU  - Li-Chen Huang
AU  - Yanshen Li
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/28
PB  - arXiv
DO  - 10.48550/arxiv.2608.23487
UR  - https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.23487
AB  - Wicking in a capillary tube could happen as long as the liquid contact angle is smaller than 90 degrees, making it possible for weak hydrophilic liquids to spontaneously invade the tube. For textured surfaces, energy minimization argument predicts the same. However, wicking of weak hydrophilic liquids on textured surfaces has not been possible due to energy barriers induced by the textures. We demonstrate how these barriers could be avoided by adjusting the shape and arrangement of the pillars, thus the wettability required for wicking reaches the theoretical limit. An unprecedented wicking contact angle of 82 degrees is reported. More surprisingly, wicking coefficients of such surfaces can be larger than that of rectangular grooves at the same porosity. These findings may significantly advance biomedical and thermal management technologies.
ER  -