Shape of Picoliter Droplets on Chemically Striped Patterned Substrates

We studied the shape of water droplets deposited using an inkjet nozzle on a chemically striped patterned substrate consisting of alternating hydrophobic and hydrophilic stripes. The droplet dimensions are comparable to the period of the stripes, typically covering up to 13 stripes. As such, our present results bridge the gap linking two regimes previously considered: (i) droplets on single stripes and (ii) droplets covering more than 50 stripes. In line with previous work on markedly smaller water droplets, the exact deposition position is important for the final shape of the droplets. A droplet with its center deposited on a hydrophobic stripe reaches a shape that is different than when it is deposited on a hydrophilic stripe. Experimental results of different droplet configurations on the same surface are in agreement with simulations using the lattice Boltzmann model. In addition, the simulations enable a detailed analysis of droplet free energies and the volume dependence. The latter reveals scaling properties of shape parameters in terms of droplet radius scaled to the period of the stripe pattern, which have remained unexplored until now.