Since their inception in 2001 , liquid marbles (LMs) have been a source of growing interest across fields as diverse as medicine , engineering and chemistry . LMs are constructed from microlitre droplets of water, supported by a layer of hydrophobic particles on the surface. In this manner, the hydrophobic particles minimise the comparatively high surface energy of water by encapsulating the droplet, and keeping it near spherical. This permits the water droplet to remain non-wetting on many (traditionally wettable) surfaces.