Chemical control of the spontaneous motion of a reactive oil droplet moving
on a glass substrate under an aqueous phase is reported. Experimental results
show that the self-motion of an oil droplet is confined on an acid-treated
glass surface. The transient behavior of oil-droplet motion is also observed
with a high-speed video camera. A mathematical model that incorporates the
effect of the glass surface charge is built based on the experimental
observation of oil-droplet motion. A numerical simulation of this mathematical
model reproduced the essential features concerning confinement within a certain
chemical territory of oil-droplet motion, and also its transient behavior. Our
results may shed light on physical aspects of reactive spreading and a
chemotaxis in living things.Comment: 17 pages, 10 figure
