From sliding paper to crawling snails: novel applications of thin films

Anette Hosoi

Department of Mechanical Engineering, MIT


Liquid thin films have long been studied in the context of industrial, biological and geophysical applications from spin coating in microcircuit fabrication to the liquid lining in the lung. In general, typical length-scales in these systems are set by surface tension. However, when the film is bounded by a flexible membrane, elasticity takes on the role of surface tension. We discuss some of the consequences of substituting elastic effects for surface tension in the context of several commonly observed phenomena, such as sliding paper and floppy drives, and in more exotic applications such as microfluidic switches and robotic snails.

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