Abstract. For several centuries fluid dynamics studies have relied upon the assumption that when a liquid flows over a solid surface, the liquid molecules adjacent to the solid are stationary relative to the solid. This no-slip boundary condition (BC) has been applied successfully to model many macroscopic experiments, but has no microscopic justification. In recent years there has been an increased interest in determining the appropriate BCs for the flow of Newtonian liquids in confined geometries, partly due to exciting developments in the fields of microfluidic and microelectromechanical devices and partly because new and more sophisticated measurement techniques are now available. An increasing number of research groups now dedicate great attention to the study of the flow of liquids at solid interfaces, and as a result a large number of experimental, computational and theoretical studies have appeared in the literature. We provide here a review of experimental studies regarding the phenomenon of slip of Newtonian liquids at solid interfaces. We dedicate particular attention to the effects that factors such as surface roughness, wettability and the presence of gaseous layers might have on the measured interfacial slip. We also discuss how future studies might improve our understanding of hydrodynamic BCs and enable us to actively control liquid slip.

Print publication: Issue 12 (December 2005)
Received 17 June 2005, in final form 13 September 2005
Published 10 October 2005