Fig.1
From: Dynamic air/liquid pockets for guiding microscale flow
Design of the adaptive air/liquid pocket transport system (ADAPTS). a Schematic of ADAPTS, consisting of a porous matrix partially infiltrated with a functional liquid (shown in blue). The distribution of the functional liquid-filled pores (liquid pockets) and air-filled pores (air pockets) changes with the pressure in the air pocket (PA). b ADAPTS guides the microscale flow (shown in red) in the square microchannel (shown in dark blue). The transport liquid initiates a flow path when the applied pressure (ΔP) is beyond a threshold pressure (Po) and is confined inside the microchannel under a critical pressure (PL). After removal of the pressure, the functional liquid refills the microchannel, and ADAPTS recovers immediately to the original state. c Diagram showing the two critical pressures (Po, PL) as a function of the channel size D. The operating range of ADAPTS is marked in light green. The inset shows the invasion of the transport liquid into ADAPTS with average pore size ξ
