Making small liquid droplets move spontaneously on solid surfaces is a key challenge in lab-on-chip and heat exchanger technologies. Here, we report that a substrate curvature gradient can accelerate micro- and nanodroplets to high speeds on both hydrophilic and hydrophobic substrates. Experiments for microscale water droplets on tapered surfaces show a maximum speed of $0.42\mathrm{m}/\mathrm{s}$, 2 orders of magnitude higher than with a wettability gradient. We show that the total free energy and driving force exerted on a droplet are determined by the substrate curvature and substrate curvature gradient, respectively. Using molecular dynamics simulations, we predict nanoscale droplets moving spontaneously at over $100\mathrm{m}/\mathrm{s}$ on tapered surfaces.

A falling liquid drop, after impact on a rigid substrate, deforms and spreads, owing to the normal reaction force. Subsequently, if the substrate is nonwetting, the drop retracts and then jumps off. As we show here, not only is the impact itself associated with a distinct peak in the temporal evolution of the normal force, but also the jump-off, which was hitherto unknown. We characterize both peaks and elucidate how they relate to the different stages of the drop impact process. The time at which the second peak appears coincides with the formation of a Worthington jet, emerging through flow focusing. Even low-velocity impacts can lead to a surprisingly high second peak in the normal force, even larger than the first one, namely when the Worthington jet becomes singular due to the collapse of an air cavity in the drop.

The morphology of the deposit after evaporation of a suspension changes from a ring shape to an eye shape, that is, a combination of the central stain and the thinner ring, upon increasing the substrate temperature.

This paper focus on the freezing delay time and the freezing time of sessile droplet on smooth, micro-structured and micro/nano-structured surfaces, and the whole freezing process are comparatively studied. The freezing delay time of the smooth surfaces with roughness smaller than the size of the critical ice nuclei is found to be much longer than superhydrophobic surfaces with hierarchical structures. Experimental data and theoretical analysis show that the surface roughness plays a very crucial role in nucleation. The freezing delay time could not be extended further on rough surface with more superhydrophobic for sessile droplet. In addition, decreased roughness can increase the free energy barrier for heterogeneous nucleation, result in significant freezing delay. On the contrary, the freezing time from the start of nucleation to the completion of freezing increases with the contact angle. In addition, surfaces with hierarchical roughness are found to have the longest freezing time.