Manipulation of Capillary Force by Electrowetting for Micromanipulation

摘要

The objective of this paper is to study the utility of capillary forces for micromanipulation. Due to the scaling effect adhesion forces like capillary force and surface tension force are prominent in the micro scale. Control and proper exploitation of these adhesion forces are an important issue for a design of a capillary gripper prototype. In this paper a novel method to control the capillary force by using electrowetting is proposed. Electrowetting is a process by which contact angle of surface is changed by application of electrical energy. Contact angle change facilitates the control of the capillary force and surface tension forces. A Numerical study of formation of the liquid bridge with volume constraint is presented and the feasibility of the micromanipulation scheme is discussed.