Phys.org  November 3, 2022 Current detection methods can only respond to changes in a droplet’s bulk wetting properties, leading to poor detection limits. A team of researchers in the US (Harvard University, Ohio State University) has developed a design principle that overcomes this fundamental limitation by locally concentrating analytes within a droplet’s contact line to modulate the local surface roughness, which further affects droplet mobility. They designed surfaces enabled the ultrasensitive, naked-eye detection of amphiphiles through changes in the droplets’ sliding angles, even when the concentration is four to five orders of magnitude below their critical micelle concentration. They developed […]