Controlling Capillary Forces to Create Self-Assembling 3D Shapes

Oct-29-13 Researchers have developed a way to manipulate capillary forces to assemble complex shapes, opening the door to new possibilities in mesoscopic-scale manufacturing.

Capillary charges function like magnetic poles on the surface of liquids, puling floating, millimeter-sized particles together to assemble into larger shapes. In order to manipulate these capillary forces, a team from the Université of Liège in Belgium developed a way to manufacture tiny, building-block particles with the attractive and repulsive magnetic charges built in. By using a 3D printer to make curved and specifically shaped building blocks, they were able to induce different capillary charges and create capillary multipoles.

The team believes that the technique could be combined with magnets to allow 3D shapes to self-assemble.

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