(713b) Droplet Impact-Mediated Liquid-Liquid Mass Transfer

Manipulation of liquid–liquid mass transfer, a crucial aspect in various physical, chemical and biological processes, remains challenging to achieve simultaneous control across scenarios involving no material exchange, unidirectional transfer, and bidirectional transfer. In this study, we report a novel approach employing droplet impact on liquid crystal (LC) films to manipulate mass transfer between water and LC. By manipulating LC mesophases and droplet impact parameters, we not only control droplet impact regimes and dynamics but, more importantly, manipulate the directionality of water–LC mass transfer. Capitalizing on these distinctive characteristics, we demonstrate the efficacy of droplet impact on transferring highly viscous substances with dynamic viscosities up to 10⁵ cP, four orders of magnitude of the viscosity limit of printable inks in the state-of-the-art inkjet printing techniques. Overall, this research unveils a novel liquid–liquid mass transfer mechanism, expanding the range of printable inks for additive manufacturing.