Pressure induced surface wetting for enhanced spreading and controlled filament size

Abstract

A roller includes a cylindrical outer surface of a hydrophobic material, an inner core of a hydrophilic material, and an inhomogeneous geometric pattern of grooves in the surface that expose the hydrophilic material. A method of manufacturing a roller, includes providing a cylindrical core of a hydrophilic material, covering the cylindrical core with a hydrophobic surface, creating grooves in the hydrophobic surface to form a geometrically inhomogeneous pattern of the hydrophilic material. A method of manufacturing a roller, includes forming a pattern of geometrically inhomogeneous grooves on a hydrophobic core, functionalizing the surface to make the surface hydrophilic, and removing a portion of a top layer of the hydrophobic core to expose the hydrophobic core, leaving hydrophilic grooves.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.