Capillary origami: spontaneous wrapping of a droplet with an elastic sheet

Charlotte Py (1) , Paul Reverdy (2) , Lionel Doppler (1) , José Bico (1) , Benoit Roman (1) , Charles N. Baroud (2)

1 PMMH - Physique et mécanique des milieux hétérogenes (UMR 7636)
2 LadHyX - Laboratoire d'hydrodynamique

The interaction between elasticity and capillarity is used to produce three-dimensional structures through the wrapping of a liquid droplet by a planar sheet. The final encapsulated 3D shape is controlled by tailoring the initial geometry of the flat membrane. Balancing interfacial energy with elastic bending energy provides a critical length scale below which encapsulation cannot occur, which is verified experimentally. This length is found to depend on the thickness as h(3/2), a scaling favorable to miniaturization which suggests a new way of mass production of 3D micro- or nanoscale objects.

Domaines: Biomécanique [physics.med-ph]; Biomécanique [physics.med-ph]; Mécanique des fluides [physics.class-ph]; Mécanique des fluides [physics.class-ph]

Charlotte Py, Paul Reverdy, Lionel Doppler, José Bico, Benoit Roman, et al.. Capillary origami: spontaneous wrapping of a droplet with an elastic sheet. Physical Review Letters, 2007, 98 (15), pp.156103. ⟨10.1103/physrevlett.98.156103⟩. ⟨hal-00143160⟩