Dielectrowetting actuation of droplet: Theory and experimental validation

A theoretical model based on energy conversation is constructed to characterize the contracting behavior of the non-conductive droplet actuated by the dielectric effect in an immiscible dielectric liquid. To verify the theory, COMSOL is employed to simulate the evolution of the droplet based on dielectrowetting, and a measurement platform is established to monitor the change process of the droplet profile. The contact angle and the height of the droplet increase linearly up to 48° and 2.03 mm respectively when U ranges from 55 V to 160 V, while the droplet remained stationary when U < 55 V. The relative experimental results coincide with the prediction of theory and the simulation analysis.