Spontaneous elastocapillary deformations driving the formation of 2D microcoils

We report on the elastocapillary deformation of flexible microfibers in contact with bubbles trapped at the surface of a liquid bath. The elastocapillary interaction results in stunning 2-dimensional microfiber coils. Microfibers placed on top of bubbles are found to migrate to and wrap around the perimeter of the deformed liquid surface for certain bubble-fiber size combinations. A simple model incorporating surface and bending energies captures the spontaneous winding process.