Self‐Driven Droplet Vehicle for Material Patterning

Abstract Anisotropic dewetting is an important physical phenomenon, which manipulates the process of liquid transport and material deposition. However, the anisotropic dewetting process is usually dependent on artificial templates and designed substrates. Herein, a unique anisotropic dewetting system of the self‐driven droplet vehicle is revealed, driven by the Marangoni effect among inter‐droplets, to fabricate patterned materials. The droplet vehicle is made up of two miscible droplets but with different surface tension through the spontaneous assembly process induced by vapors. The motion of the droplet vehicle is controlled by the surface tension coefficient, and it can fabricate parallel lines of materials at the same time. Combining the droplet vehicle with superhydrophilic‐hydrophobic patterned substrates, the millimeter‐scale droplet can produce various micrometer‐scale lines of materials in tens of seconds. The understanding and founding of the self‐driven droplet vehicle may develop a new strategy for liquid transport and functional materials patterning.