No abstract

A micropump based on a pair of liquid marbles coated with various powders and connected with a capillary tube is presented. The idea of the micropump is based on the difference of the Laplace pressures in the marbles. The initial stream was supported by the pressure instability developed under water overflow. The reported experiments validate the concept of the effective surface tension of liquid marbles. The micropump could be used for precise delivery of small quantities of liquids, the design of microreactors and microfluidics applications.

Composite non-stick droplets comprised of di-iodomethane and water, coated by a common shell built from hydrophobic particles, are reported. Activation of the composite marbles by an electric field was studied. The water drop climbed onto the di-iodomethane drop when the composite marble was exposed to the electric field. A dimensionless constant describing sensitivity of dielectric droplets to an electric field is introduced. An explanation of the observed phenomena is proposed.