标题: A New Route to Liquid Control: How Micro/Nano 3D Printing Turns Geometry into a Fluid Gate [打印本页] 作者: admin 时间: 2026-11-4 08:09 标题: A New Route to Liquid Control: How Micro/Nano 3D Printing Turns Geometry into a Fluid Gate Microfluidics centers on precise control of fluid behavior at microscopic scales. For passive transport, selective routing, and oil–water separation, traditional approaches often rely on external pumps, pressure, or complex surface modification. Micro/nano 3D printing opens a different route: precisely constructed 3D geometry directly regulates interfacial forces, wettability, capillary pressure, and liquid–solid interactions. Bioinspired design and fluid physics become programmable microstructures, opening possibilities for passive, selective liquid control.
Recent studies show that BMF's ultra-high-precision printing can construct autonomously regulating fluid transport mechanisms. The following research illustrates these developments.
Arched Edges: Selective Liquid Routing
Inspired by the high-curvature rim of pitcher plants, a Xi'an Jiaotong University team systematically investigated selective control of liquid spreading using curved microstructures. The work appeared in Chemical Engineering Journal. An energy-analysis framework explained interactions between liquid interfaces and high-curvature arched edges. These geometries create significant spreading barriers at the three-phase contact line, guiding liquids with different wetting characteristics along predefined routes.
To reproduce the complex geometry experimentally, the team batch-produced microchannels with arched edges on both sides using BMF's projection micro-stereolithography, PμSL, on a nanoArch® P150 with 25 μm precision. This reliably reproduced target curvature at the microscale. Adjusting ethanol-to-water ratios changed contact angles and enabled selective routing within the printed channels. The geometry-driven mechanism was extended to Y-junction channels, fluidic digital displays, and oil–water separators. Precisely manufactured 3D curvature can therefore function as a passive fluid gate, routing, screening, and separating liquids according to their interfacial properties.
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DOI: 10.1016/j.cej.2025.168916
Curvature-Ratchet Surfaces: New Understanding of Intelligent Liquid Manipulation
Professor Alan C. H. Tsang's University of Hong Kong team investigated directional liquid control through curvature-ratchet surfaces, publishing in ACS Nano. The study examined coupling between structural curvature, surface inclination, liquid surface tension, and solid–liquid interfacial energy, clarifying how these factors jointly determine transport.
Surfaces were fabricated using a BMF microArch® S240 with 10 μm precision. Controlled curvature and inclination allowed experimental observation and validation of asymmetric Laplace pressure generation and regulation at 3D liquid interfaces. Compared with approaches relying on chemical gradients or external forces, geometry itself becomes the central active factor guiding motion.
The study introduced a dimensionless parameter, ζ, relating solid surface free energy to liquid surface tension. Near the balance region ζ ≈ 1, curvature-ratchet surfaces support directional spreading, flow redirection, bidirectional transport, and even reverse movement. The same surface need not have one fixed response: geometry and interface properties can jointly tune behavior.
The team also validated liquid-based information encryption, in which encoded information becomes visible through liquid only under particular interfacial-energy conditions. This expands the application boundaries of printed micro/nanostructures. A designed surface becomes a programmable interface that autonomously determines when, where, and in which direction liquid moves, rather than merely containing it.
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DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.4c18229
Bioinspired Spring Microchannels: Efficient Selective Oil–Water Separation
A study in Advanced Science by Harbin Institute of Technology, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and other institutions drew inspiration from cucumber tendrils' helical geometry and natural liquid transport. The team developed spring-like microchannels integrating transport, interface recognition, and liquid-phase separation into one 3D microfluidic architecture.
Devices were fabricated using a BMF nanoArch® S140 with 10 μm precision, reproducing the full helical geometry while retaining features essential to capillary-driven transport. Preloading an oil or aqueous phase allows the system to selectively capture and transport the target phase, dynamically separating immiscible liquids. Across multiple oil–water systems, separation efficiency remained approximately 99%. The channels also capture interfaces and reduce clogging risk. The approach was successfully extended to crude-oil/water separation.
Compared with membrane filtration or externally powered mechanical separation, this system controls fluids through coordinated channel geometry, wettability, and mechanical response. It demonstrates how printed bioinspired 3D architectures can evolve from static passive microstructures into functional microfluidic pumps with selective transport and phase-separation capabilities.
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DOI: 10.1002/advs.202503511
Together, these studies point to an important direction in microfluidics: microscale geometry itself can be the central mechanism controlling fluids. Their underlying physics differs, but all depend on precise fabrication of complex microscopic 3D structures.
BMF's technology lets researchers move beyond planar channels and conventional micromachining, integrating curved edges, ratchets, and helical channels through design and fabrication. This structural freedom supports passive systems without external drives. Devices can autonomously guide, transport, and separate fluids and respond to their environment, using precision geometry to advance microfluidic innovation and industrial exploration.
AI-translated from an article by Kuaixiong on Nanjixiong, originally published on 2026-10-30. Text and images retain the original source attribution. Read the original Chinese article
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