Fig. 1

a Droplet generation in conventional reservoir. Here, l_o is the representative electrode dimension and x_c is the cutting length. P and R denote the pressure and radius of curvatures respectively with the subscripts referring to particular electrodes. b Droplet splitting using conventional approach. Yellow (solid) and blue (dotted) arrows indicate electrowetting and de-wetting forces respectively. c Ideal droplet splitting concept with the yellow and blue arrows as representative of electrowetting and de-wetting forces. N_L and N_R denote the left and right meniscus at the junction between the diamond shaped electrodes. d Droplet generation in L-junction with ‘L₁’, ‘L₂’ being the linear segments whereas ‘A’ as the angled section. δ is the angle of each slender electrodes in section ‘A’. e Droplet cutting in Y-junction. Linear sections L₁, L₂ and L₃ are composed of straight slender electrodes whereas arc section A is composed of slender electrodes with angles α, β and γ. The dashed line, X denotes the horizontal axis towards the initial droplet motion