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High-throughput experiments involving isolated droplets based on patterned superwettable surfaces are important for various applications related to biology, chemistry, and medicine, and they have attracted a large amount of interest. This paper provides a directional anchoring liquid-infused superamphiphobic surface (DAS), via combining concepts based on the droplet-anchoring behavior of beetle backs with patterned wettability, the directional adhesion of butterfly wings, and the slippery liquid-infused surfaces (SLISs) of pitcher plants. Regularly arranged ">"-shaped SLIS patterns were created on a superamphiphobic (SAM) background through ultrafast-laser-based technology. Improved directional anchoring abilities with a sliding angle difference of 77° were achieved; this is the largest sliding angle difference in a one-dimensional direction achieved using an artificial surface, to the best of the authors' knowledge. Thanks to the directional anchoring abilities, the DAS coupled droplet 'anchoring' and 'releasing' abilities. Furthermore, a high-throughput droplet manipulation device was designed, on which a micro-droplet array with a large number of droplets can be 'captured', 'transferred', or 'released' in a single step. With the addition of lubricant, the DAS can work continuously for even more than 30 cycles without cross-contamination between different droplets. The DAS also shows good stability under an ambient atmosphere and can maintain its functionality when manipulating corrosive droplets. The DAS and corresponding high-throughput droplet manipulation method are excellent candidates for practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on isotope labelling, we found that liquid water can afford an ultrafast permeation through graphene-based nanochannels with a diffusion coefficient 4–5 orders of magnitude greater than in the bulk case. When dissolving ions in sources, the diffusion coefficient of ions through graphene channels lies in the same order of magnitude as water, while the ion diffusion is slightly faster than water, indicating that the ions are mainly transported by water flows and the delicate interactions between ions and nanocapillary walls also take effect in the accelerated ion transportation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]