Effect of surface interactions on the settlement of particles on a sinusoidally corrugated substrate

Abstract

Naturally-occurring surface topographies abound in nature and endow diverse properties, i.e., superhydrophobicity, adhesion, anti-fouling, self-cleaning, anti-glare, anti-bacterial, and many others. Researchers have attempted to replicate such topographies to create human-made surfaces with desired functionalities. For example, combining the surface topography with judicial chemical composition could provide an effective, non-toxic solution to combat non-specific biofouling. A systematic look at the effect of geometry, modulus, and chemistry on adhesion is warranted. In this work, we use a model system that comprises silica (SiO_x) beads interacting with a substrate made of a commercial polydimethylsiloxane kit (PDMS, Sylgard 184) featuring a sinusoidal topography. To examine the impact of interactions on particle settlement, we functionalize the surfaces of both the PDMS substrate and the SiO_x beads with polyacrylic acid (PAA) and polyethyleneimine (PEI), respectively. We also use the PDMS commercial kit coated with liquid glass (LG) to study the effect of the substrate modulus on particle settlement. Substrates with a higher aspect ratio (i.e., amplitude/periodicity) encourage adsorption of particles along the sides of the channel compared with substrates with lower aspect ratio. We employ colloidal probe microscopy to demonstrate the effect of interaction between the substrate and the particle. The interplay among the surface modulus, geometry, and interactions between the surface and the particle governs particle settlement on sinusoidally-corrugated substrates.