The key problem that hinders the water transportation performance and application of microchannels is the annoying gaslock. Realizing liquid transport without the gaslock requires a specially designed pump and a channel system, as well as the reduction of gas concentration in liquids. In nature, to eat viscous nectar with high efficiency, hummingbirds use their open geometric tongue for nectar-sucking. Inspired by hummingbirds’ tongue, we report a bionic open microchannel that discharges unwanted gas inside the microchannel from the opening without influencing its fluidic performance. The opening can also be used for extrusion of oil droplets in microchannels, indicating great potential applications in oil–water separation and chemical slow release, especially for bubble discharge in microchannels. Most significantly, a mimicked “leaf” with our bionic open microchannnels exhibits marvelous “transpiration” performance when irradiated by a laser. Our work provides a new strategy for the fabrication of open microchannels and sheds light on potential applications of multiphase phenomena in microchannels including oil–water separation, phase change heat and mass transfer, solar vapor generation, and precisely controllable drug delivery.

中文翻译：

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三维开放水微通道蒸腾模拟物

阻碍微通道输水性能和应用的关键问题是烦人的气闸。在没有气闸的情况下实现液体输送需要专门设计的泵和通道系统，以及降低液体中的气体浓度。在自然界中，为了高效地食用粘稠的花蜜，蜂鸟会使用它们张开的几何舌头来吸食花蜜。受蜂鸟舌头的启发，我们报告了一种仿生开放式微通道，它可以在不影响其流体性能的情况下将微通道内的多余气体从开口处排出。该开口还可用于微通道中油滴的挤出，在油水分离和化学缓释方面具有巨大的应用潜力，尤其是微通道中的气泡排放。最重要的是，使用我们的仿生开放微通道模拟的“叶子”在受到激光照射时表现出奇妙的“蒸腾”性能。我们的工作为开放微通道的制造提供了一种新策略，并阐明了多相现象在微通道中的潜在应用，包括油水分离、相变传热和传质、太阳能蒸汽产生和精确可控的药物输送。