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Droplet manipulation techniques such as transport and merging have been widely used in many fields including biology, chemistry, material and energy applications. Moreover, droplet manipulation strategies have been extensively investigated and reviewed in terms of droplet placement on solid surfaces. However, less attention has been paid to the practice of droplet manipulation technology in other environments, limiting our understanding and the broadening of technology application. In this article, we provided an overview of the recent progress in controlling droplets in various situations, including droplet manipulation on a surface mediated by the passive strategy (Laplace pressure and wettability gradients) and active strategy (electric field, magnetic field, light and heat). We also presented the principle of droplet manipulation and detailed the application of bionic surfaces in droplet manipulation, and the applications and prospects of droplet manipulation technology were summarized. This review summarizes the recent progress in the principle, method and application of droplet manipulation on surfaces. Recent methods for droplet manipulation related to bioinspired surfaces with special microstructures and their principles are highlighted. Droplet manipulation using passive and active strategies, their application and future perspectives in related fields are concluded.

Bio-inspired macrostructure array (MAA, size: submillimeter to millimeter scale) materials with special wettability (MAAMs-SW) have attracted significant research attention due to their outstanding performance in many applications, including oil repellency, liquid/droplet manipulation, anti-icing, heat transfer, water collection, and oil–water separation. In this review, we focus on recent developments in the theory, design, fabrication, and application of bio-inspired MAAMs-SW. We first review the history of the basic theory of special wettability and discuss representative structures and corresponding functions of some biological surfaces, thus setting the stage for the design and fabrication of bio-inspired MAAMs-SW. We then summarize the fabrication methods of special wetting MAAs in terms of three categories: additive manufacturing, subtractive manufacturing, and formative manufacturing, as well as their diverse functional applications, providing insights into the development of these MAAMs-SW. Finally, the challenges and directions of future research on bio-inspired MAAMs-SW are briefly addressed. Worldwide efforts, progress, and breakthroughs from surface engineering to functional applications elaborated herein will promote the practical application of bio-inspired MAAMs-SW. The theoretical basis and design of macrostructure array materials with special wettability are introduced. The fabrication strategies are summarized from the three categories of additive manufacturing, subtractive manufacturing, and formative manufacturing. The applications of these bio-inspired macrostructure array materials with special wettability are demonstrated. The challenges and directions of future research on bio-inspired macrostructure array materials with special wettability are addressed.

The robot-assisted catheter system can increase operating distance thus preventing the exposure radiation of the surgeon to X-ray for endovascular catheterization. However, few designs have considered the collision protection between the catheter tip and the vessel wall. This paper presents a novel catheter operating system based on tissue protection to prevent vessel puncture caused by collision. The integrated haptic interface not only allows the operator to feel the real force feedback, but also combines with the newly proposed collision protection mechanism (CPM) to mitigate the collision trauma. The CPM can release the catheter quickly when the measured force exceeds a certain threshold, so as to avoid the vessel puncture. A significant advantage is that the proposed mechanism can adjust the protection threshold in real time by the current according to the actual characteristics of the blood vessel. To verify the effectiveness of the tissue protection by the system, the evaluation experiments in vitro were carried out. The results show that the further collision damage can be effectively prevented by the CPM, which implies the realization of relative safe catheterization. This research provides some insights into the functional improvements of safe and reliable robot-assisted catheter systems.

This paper established three micro-cutting simulation models for SiCp/Al composites with a volume fraction of 45%. The three models of SiCp/Al composites, established by ABAQUS software, are equivalent homogeneous model, multiphase mixture model, and multiphase mixture cohesive model. And the three models were compared and analyzed. The results showed that the equivalent homogeneous model was suitable for studying the change of cutting force, stress flow, and cutting temperature with different cutting parameters. The multiphase mixture model could simulate the material removal during machining process and the prediction of machining surface defects. The multiphase mixture cohesive model, improved on the basis of the microscopic model, could better simulate the stress transfer and the debonding of SiC particles during machining process ensuring that the simulation results become more reasonable.

It has been researched that the surface structure of many organisms has unique resistance reduction properties and it is important to replicate the morphological features of the biological body surface on the material surface. So, a method for creating a biomimetic fish-scale surface using a laser is proposed by observing the laminar arrangement features of three common fish scales on the body surface, and a composite structure of bionic fish scale macrostructure and different microstructures of bionic fish scale were machined on on aluminium alloy surfaces. The surface morphology and elemental composition were characterized before the resistance reduction test. The results indicate that both the biomimetic fish-scale macrostructure and composite structure have an obvious effect of reduced drag, among which, maximum resistance reduction can be achieved 44.02% at a flow rate of 0.6 m/s for the bionic carp fish scale composite structure.

With the development of marine transportation and underwater navigation technology, fluid drag reduction has become an international research hotspot as an important technical means to save energy and reduce environmental pollution. It has been found that the body surface structures of many organisms have unique drag-reduction properties. Therefore, it is feasible and important to replicate the morphological features of the body surface to the material surface. In this research, the structural features of biomimetic fish scales were summarized and extracted by observing the laminar arrangement features and morphology features of the surface scales of aquatic fish. Then, the arrangement features and morphology of fish-scales were abstracted into the oblique groove structure, and a three-dimensional model of the bionic fish-scale with a fan-shaped structure was constructed. The surface flow field of the bionic fish-scale was numerically simulated by COMSOL Multiphysics to revealing the mechanism of resistance reduction on the surface of the bionic fish-scale. The results indicate that the maximum drag reduction rate of the bionic fish scale surface is 8.40% compared with the smooth surface at a water speed of 0.6 m/s.

Most in situ tool wear monitoring methods during micro end milling rely on signals captured from the machining process to evaluate tool wear behavior; accurate positioning in the tool wear region and direct measurement of the level of wear are difficult to achieve. In this paper, an in situ monitoring system based on machine vision is designed and established to monitor tool wear behavior in micro end milling of titanium alloy Ti6Al4V. Meanwhile, types of tool wear zones during micro end milling are discussed and analyzed to obtain indicators for evaluating wear behavior. Aiming to measure such indicators, this study proposes image processing algorithms. Furthermore, the accuracy and reliability of these algorithms are verified by processing the template image of tool wear gathered during the experiment. Finally, a micro end milling experiment is performed with the verified micro end milling tool and the main wear type of the tool is understood via in-situ tool wear detection. Analyzing the measurement results of evaluation indicators of wear behavior shows the relationship between the level of wear and varying cutting time; it also gives the main influencing reasons that cause the change in each wear evaluation indicator.

In this work, we present a simple technique for green fabrication of slippery liquid-infused surface (SLIS) with anti-friction property on various metallic substrates using wire electrical discharge machining. Micro-crater structures were successfully obtained, and the surface had excellent liquid-repellent property after modification and infusion of silicone oil. A wide range of liquids including water, juice, coffee, tea, vinegar, albumin, glycerol, and ketchup could easily slid down the surface tilted at an angle of 10° without leaving any trace. The influences of the number of cutting step on the morphology and wettability of the surface were studied comprehensively. Further, the tribological properties of the surface were analyzed and the results showed that the SLIS had a decrease of 73.2% in friction coefficient as compared to that of the smooth surface. By studying the morphology of the worn surfaces, it is found that the SLIS had slight abrasive wear behavior. To demonstrate the precision processing ability of this technology, we fabricated slippery sub-millimeter-scale asymmetric bump arrays, and the experiment results showed that the asymmetric bump arrays had excellent water harvesting ability at low temperatures. This kind of environment-friendly precision machining technology will promote the practical applications of metallic functional materials.

As two typical special wettability materials, superhydrophobic and superoleophobic surfaces are the most widely studied interfaces because of their excellent water-or oil-repellent ability. However, how to use a simple strategy to obtain those surfaces is still a huge challenge. On the other hand, corrosion tend to occur while using metallic materials, resulting in poor performance of metallic equipment and even serious safety hazards. In this work, a one-step strategy of nanosecond laser ablation was presented to construct the microstructures acquired by superhydrophobic and superoleophobic aluminum alloy surfaces. The superhydrophobic and superoleophobic properties of microstructured surfaces were obtained via high temperature and fluorosilane treatments on laser-processed surfaces, respectively, and the oil-repellent and corrosion resistance properties of both substrates were studied. The potentiodynamic polarization test shows that the superoleophobic surface had a better corrosion resistance than the superhydrophobic surface, which will provide an effective protection for the bare aluminum alloy. Meanwhile, the superoleophobic surface had good chemical stability. It is believed that the nanosecond laser technology can offer an effective strategy for constructing the microstructures acquired by large-area superhydrophobic and superoleophobic surfaces on aluminum alloy materials.Graphic Abstract

BackgroundThe pan-immune-inflammation value (PIV) is a novel biomarker reflecting systemic inflammation. Its role in predicting adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events in diabetic patients after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is unclear.ObjectivesThis study evaluated PIV's prognostic value for major adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events (MACCE) post-PCI in diabetics with coronary heart disease (CHD), and compared it to other inflammation-based markers like systemic immune-inflammation index (SII), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR).MethodsRetrospective analysis of diabetic CHD patients undergoing PCI. PIV was calculated as (neutrophil × platelet × monocyte)/lymphocyte counts from pre-procedural blood. Optimal cutoff determined via ROC curve. Patients stratified into high/low PIV groups. Follow-up for MACCE (e.g., MI, stroke, revascularization). Kaplan–Meier (KM) survival, Cox regression, and ROC comparisons assessed outcomes.ResultsOver 24-month median follow-up, 52 MACCE occurred (24.8%). High-PIV group had higher incidence (37.7% vs. 11.5%, p  < 0.001) and worse MACCE-free survival (log-rank p  < 0.001). Multivariate Cox confirmed high PIV as independent predictor (adjusted HR = 2.87, 95% CI: 1.55–5.32, p  = 0.001). PIV AUC = 0.74 (95% CI: 0.68–0.80), outperforming SII (0.69), NLR (0.66), and PLR (0.64; DeLong's test p  < 0.05 vs. NLR/PLR).ConclusionsPIV is a robust, independent predictor of MACCE post-PCI in diabetics, with superior accuracy over other markers. It offers cost-effective risk stratification. Limitations: retrospective design; prospective validation needed.