Electrowetting-Dominated Instability of Cassie Droplets on Superlyophobic Pillared Surfaces

The liquid–air interface of Cassie droplets on superhydrophobic/superlyophobic surfaces has been directly captured with a high-precision laser displacement meter. The measured profile of the interface shape and the critical voltage with which the Cassie-to-Wenzel transition occurs are compared against those from numerical simulations of the electric field coupled with the interface shape. Under the applied voltage, the collapsing behavior of water, glycerol, and hexadecane droplets on SU-8, CYTOP, and overhanging Si/SiO2 pillars has been uniquely identified depending on the liquid properties, the pillar geometry, and the pillar material. It is shown that, with increasing voltage, the contact angle at the three-phase contact line approaches the maximum advancing angle along the pillar sidewalls, above which the depinning from the pillar edge leads to a slide-down motion. The slide-down instability is dominant over the pull-in instability both on dielectric pillars and conductive overhanging pillars examined in the present study. It is indicated that the collapsing behavior on the present overhanging pillars is closely related to contact angle saturation in electrowetting and stick-slip motion of the contact line.