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The survival of many microorganisms, like \textit{Leptospira} or \textit{Spiroplasma} bacteria, can depend on their ability to navigate towards regions of favorable viscosity. While this ability, called viscotaxis, has been observed in…
Droplets of a pure fluid, such as water, in an open container surrounded by gas, are thermodynamically unstable and evaporate quickly. In a recent paper [Archer et al. J. Chem. Phys. {\bf 159}, 194403 (2023)] we employed lattice density…
We study chemically driven running droplets on a partially wetting solid substrate by means of coupled evolution equations for the thickness profile of the droplets and the density profile of an adsorbate layer. Two models are introduced…
Under partial wetting conditions, making a substrate uniformly rougher enhances the wetting characteristics of the corresponding smooth substrate {--} hydrophilic systems become even more hydrophilic and hydrophobic systems even more…
We report a new type of fluid-based driven dissipative oscillator system consisting of a lattice of millimetric fluid droplets bouncing on a vertically vibrating liquid bath and bound within an annular ring. We characterize the system…
With exquisite precision and reproducibility, cells orchestrate the cooperative action of thousands of nanometer-sized molecular motors to carry out mechanical tasks at much larger length scales, such as cell motility, division and…
Droplets form a cornerstone of the spatiotemporal organization of biomolecules in cells. These droplets are controlled using physical processes like chemical reactions and imposed gradients, which are costly to simulate using traditional…
We discuss the usage of ratchet mechanisms to transport a continuous phase in several micro-fluidic settings. In particular, we study the transport of a dielectric liquid in a heterogeneous ratchet capacitor that is periodically switched on…
Evaporating colloidal droplets have long been used as model systems to understand capillarity, interfacial transport, and particle assembly, most prominently through the coffee ring effect. In classical descriptions, suspended particles are…
Flow transport in confined spaces is ubiquitous in technological processes, ranging from separation and purification of pharmaceutical ingredients by microporous membranes and drug delivery in biomedical treatment to chemical and biomass…
The superhydrophobic leaves of a lotus plant and other natural surfaces with self-cleaning function have been studied intensively for the development of artificial biomimetic surfaces. Surface roughness generated by hierarchical structures…
The stability of thin liquid films on a surface depends on the excess free energy of the system involving various short-range and long-range interactions. In an unstable condition, thin liquid films may dewet into multiple small-sized…
A fluid droplet in general deforms, if subject to active driving, such as a finite slip velocity or active tractions on its interface. We show that these deformations and their dynamics can be computed analytically in a perturbation theory…
In the present paper we give a brief summary of some recent theoretical advances in the treatment of inhomogeneous fluids and methods which have applications in the study of dynamical properties of liquids in situations of extreme…
Many transport processes in nature take place on substrates, often considered as unidimensional lanes. These unidimensional substrates are typically non-static: affected by a fluctuating environment, they can undergo conformational changes.…
Motion control of droplets has generated much attention for its applications to microfluidics, where precise control of small fluid volumes is an imperative requirement. Mechanical vibrations have been shown to be effective at inducing…
Microscale transport often relies on ubiquitous yet intrinsically random thermal fluctuations. Understanding how such fluctuations can be biased into directed motion has long been a central theme of nonequilibrium physics. Here, we…
We report an experimental study of liquid drops moving against gravity, when placed on a vertically vibrating inclined plate, which is partially wetted by the drop. The frequency of vibrations ranges from 30 to 200 Hz, and, above a…
Motivated by recent advances in the investigation of fluctuation-driven ratchets and flows in excited granular media, we have carried out experimental and simulational studies to explore the horizontal transport of granular particles in a…
Mirroring their role in electrical and optical physics, two-dimensional crystals are emerging as novel platforms for fluid separations and water desalination, which are hydrodynamic processes that occur in nanoscale environments. For…