Geometry-dependent electrostatics near contact lines

Long-ranged electrostatic interactions in electrolytes modify contact angles on charged substrates in a scale and geometry-dependent manner. For angles measured at scales smaller than the typical Debye screening length, the wetting geometry near the contact line must be explicitly considered. Using variational and asymptotic methods, we derive new transcendental equations for the contact angle as functions of the electrostatic potential only at the three phase contact line. Analytic expressions are found in certain limits and compared with predictions for contact angles measured with lower resolution. An estimate for electrostatic contributions to line tension is also given.     

倾斜均质表面上非等径液滴的聚合特性

对倾斜均匀表面上非等径液滴的聚合过程及特性进行了可视化实验研究,获得了液滴半径和表面倾角等参数对液滴聚合过程中液滴液桥半径、接触角和接触线变化特性的影响规律,进一步说明了倾斜表面上液滴聚合可以加快液滴的运动.     

矩形毛细微槽中三角形区域接触线特性的研究

利用CCD和宽视场体视显微镜相结合的技术,拍摄了矩形毛细微槽内液体工质在三角形区域的润湿图像,并进行了图像处理,研究结果表明:随着热流密度的增加,三角形区域内的三相接触线向微槽底角收缩,导致三相接触线的长度减小,液膜厚度减小;随着微槽深度的增加,三角形区域的接触线长度减小;随着微槽宽度和倾斜角度的增加,三角形区域内的接触线长度增加,液膜厚度增加.     

容器内角处流体界面特性与Surface Evolver程序适用性的研究

微重力条件下内角处液体行为的研究对于认识表面张力主导的液体行为, 预测和控制空间微重力条件下的液体位置、瞬时状态, 以及对空间流体进行有效的管理等方面都非常重要. 通过分析接触角与流体界面在容器内角处的接触线方向之间的关系, 并与Concus-Finn理论进行比较, 提出了内角处接触线、接触角和几何形状之间相互关联的机理, 并探讨了Concus和Finn等 的相关理论结果的物理内涵. 在此基础上, 进一步将内角处的相关理论结果与Surface Evolver程序得出的数值结果进行了比较, 指出当容器中的内角小于180°时, Surface Evolver程序通过自动划分网格即可比较准确地预言内角处的接触线和液面行为, 但是当内角大于180°时, 自动划分网格得到的数值结果有较大的误差, 需要通过手动划分网格减少网格奇异才能减小误差. 因此, 对于具有复杂几何形状的容器, 需注意网格的奇异性, 并对内角处的液面进行定量的验证, 才能有效判断Surface Evolver程序结果的正确性. 本工作对于深入认识内角处的液面特性和机理, 理解Surface Evolver程序的适用条件, 以及分析微重力条件下容器内角处的液体行为等方面都具有明显意义.     

倾斜均质表面上等径水滴聚合过程的可视化实验

对倾斜均匀表面上等直径水滴的聚合过程及特性进行了可视化实验研究,获得了水滴直径和表面倾角等参数对液滴聚合过程中液滴液桥半径、接触角和接触线变化特性的影响,分析了水滴聚合对其运动的影响.实验结果表明:表面倾角越大,下滑的临界半径越小;液滴的直径越大,液滴聚合后越容易下滑;液滴聚合可以加快液滴的运动,使下滑临界半径减小.     

The debate on the dependence of apparent contact angles on drop contact area or three-phase contact line: A review

A sessile drop is an isolated drop which has been deposited on a solid substrate where the wetted area is limited by the three-phase contact line and characterized by contact angle, contact radius and drop height. Although, wetting has been studied using contact angles of drops on solids for more than 200 years, the question remains unanswered: Is wetting of a rough and chemically heterogeneous surface controlled by the interactions within the solid/liquid contact area beneath the droplet or only at the three-phase contact line? After the publications of Pease in 1945, Extrand in 1997, 2003 and Gao and McCarthy in 2007 and 2009, it was proposed that advancing, receding contact angles, and contact angle hysteresis of rough and chemically heterogeneous surfaces are determined by interactions of the liquid and the solid at the three-phase contact line alone and the interfacial area within the contact perimeter is irrelevant. As a consequence of this statement, the well-known Wenzel (1934) and Cassie (1945) equations which were derived using the contact area approach are proposed to be invalid and should be abandoned. A hot debate started in the field of surface science after 2007, between the three-phase contact line and interfacial contact area approach defenders. This paper presents a review of the published articles on contact angles and summarizes the views of the both sides. After presenting a brief history of the contact angles and their measurement methods, we discussed the basic contact angle theory and applications of contact angles on the characterization of flat, rough and micropatterned superhydrophobic surfaces. The weak and strong sides of both three-phase contact line and contact area approaches were discussed in detail and some practical conclusions were drawn.     

Droplets on inclined rough surfaces

The behaviour of liquid droplets on inclined heterogeneous surfaces was simulated by the lattice-Boltzmann method using the Shan-Chen multiphase model. The effect of topography of the surface on the contact angle hysteresis was investigated. It is shown in particular, by using anisotropic rough surfaces, how surface topography and thereby the continuity of the three-phase contact line, affect this hysteresis. Our results clearly indicate that the superhydrophobicity of a surface cannot be judged by the contact angle alone.     

Boundary conditions in the vicinity of a dynamic contact line: experimental investigation of viscous drops sliding down an inclined plane

To probe the microscopic balance of forces close to a moving contact line, the boundary conditions around viscous drops sliding down an inclined plane are investigated. At first, the variation of the contact angle as a function of the scale of analysis is discussed. The dynamic contact angle is measured at a scale of 6 mum all around sliding drops for different volumes and speeds. We show that it depends only on the capillary number based on the local liquid velocity, measured by particle tracking. This velocity turns out to be normal to the contact line everywhere. It indirectly proves that, in comparison with the divergence involved in the normal direction, the viscous stress is not balanced by intermolecular forces in the direction tangential to the contact line, so that any motion in this last direction gets damped.     

Simulation and Experiments on the Capillary Force between a Circular Disk and a Parallel Substrate

The capillary force of a liquid bridge with a pinned contact line between a small disk and a parallel plate is investigated by simulation and experiments. The numerical minimization simulation method is utilized to calculate the capillary force. The results show excellent agreement with the Young-Laplace equation method. An experimental setup is built to measure the capillary force. The experimental results indicate that the simulation results agree well with the measured forces at large separation distances, while some deviation may occur due to the transition from the advancing contact angle to the receding one at small distances. It is also found that the measured rupture distance is slightly larger than the simulation value due to the effect of the viscous interaction inside the liquid bridge.     

The constancy of the contact angle in viscous liquid motions with pinned contact lines

Consider motion initiated in a viscous liquid in a smooth walled container. The liquid is initially at rest under uniform pressure from an inert gas of negligible inertia. We show that if the contact line is pinned and the interface is single valued, the contact angle has to remain constant throughout the motion. This is true even for motions of finite amplitude. Some implications of the result are discussed.     

溶液液滴蒸发变干的环状沉积

液体蒸发驱动的颗粒自组装现象在许多的工业技术中有重要应用. 本文利用显微镜观测含有颗粒物质的液滴变干后留在固体表面的颗粒形成的环状沉积图案. 采用微米粒径的SiO₂小球水溶液液滴蒸发变干模拟咖啡环的形成过程, 结果发现液滴蒸发过程中接触线的钉扎是环状沉积的必要条件. 在液滴蒸发过程中颗粒随着补偿流不断的向液滴边缘移动, 聚集在接触线处形成环. 液滴蒸发变干后残留在液滴内部的颗粒数随颗粒质量分数的增加而增加, 可以达到单层的颗粒排列. 而玻璃衬底上的颗粒环在颗粒质量分数很小时, 形成单层排列, 且一排一排地生长. 蒸发过程中颗粒环由于液滴边缘的尺寸限制向液滴中心缓慢移动. 这会导致液滴中不同大小颗粒的分离. 关键词： 液滴 接触线 蒸发 颗粒     

接触角与液固界面热阻关系的分子动力学模拟

本文利用分子动力学方法模拟了液体在固体表面的 接触角及液固界面热阻, 并探讨了二者之间的关系. 通过分别改变液固结合强度和固体的原子性质来分析接触角和界面热阻的关系及变化趋势. 模拟结果显示增强液固间相互作用时, 接触角减小的同时界面热阻也随之单调减小; 而改变固体原子间结合强度和原子质量时, 接触角几乎保持不变, 但界面热阻显著改变. 固体原子间结合强度和原子质量影响界面热阻的原因是其改变了固体的振动频率分布, 导致液固原子间的振动耦合程度发生变化. 本文的结果表明界面热阻不仅与由接触角所表征的液固结合强度有关, 还与液固原子间的振动耦合程度有关. 接触角与界面热阻间不存在单值的对应关系, 不能单一地将接触角作为液固界面热阻的评价标准. 关键词： 液固界面 接触角 界面热阻 分子动力学模拟     

Phase field modeling of hysteresis in sessile drops

We propose a novel approach to describe wetting of plane solid surfaces by liquid drops. A two-dimensional nonconserved phase field variable is employed to distinguish between wetted and nonwetted regions on the surface. The imbalance in the Young's force provides for the exchange of relative stability of the two phases. The three-phase contact line tension arises from the gradient energy and contact angle hysteresis from the kinetic coefficient. Using this theory, we discuss contact angle hysteresis on chemically heterogeneous surfaces. We show significant departure from the classical Cassie theory, which is attributed to defect pinning of the continuous triple line.     

Effect of contact line curvature on solid-fluid surface tensions without line tension

For sessile droplets partially wetting a solid surface, it has been observed experimentally that the value of the contact angle depends on the contact line curvature and this dependence has been attributed to tension in the contact line. But previous analyses of these observations have neglected adsorption at the solid-liquid interface and its effect on the surface tension of this interface. We show that if this adsorption is taken into account the relation between the contact angle and contact line curvature is completely accounted for without introducing line tension. Further, from the observed relation between the contact angle and contact line curvature, the adsorption at the solid-liquid interface can be determined, as can the surface tensions of the solid-liquid and solid-vapor interfaces.     

Structure of the surface microrelief of a droplet evaporating from a rough substrate as a possible cause of contact angle hysteresis

Based on the refraction images of a droplet evaporating on a rough substrate, we simultaneously observed the dynamics of its surface microrelief, contact angle, and contact line deformations along the entire perimeter of the contact line. This has led us conclude that the microrelief structure is directly related to the phenomenon of contact angle hysteresis and the jump-like pattern of contact line deformation. We suggest a possible mechanism for the occurrence of contact angle hysteresis during droplet evaporation and derive the relations that specify the range of possible contact angles at known microrelief parameters.     

Nonlinear dependence of the contact angle of nanodroplets on contact line curvature

We have measured the contact angle of microsized and nanosized alkane droplets partially wetting a model substrate using true noncontact atomic force microscopy. The large range of droplet sizes accessible using this technique allowed us to determine the contact line curvature dependence of the contact angle with unprecedented accuracy. Whereas previous studies aimed at explaining such a dependence by a line tension effect, our results and calculations on a model system exclude such an effect and point to an extreme sensitivity to weak substrate heterogeneities confirmed by numerical simulations.     

Sonoprocessing of wetting of SiC by liquid Al: A thermodynamic and kinetic study

The sonoprocessing of droplet spreading during the wetting process of molten aluminum droplets on SiC ceramic substrates at 700 °C is investigated in this paper. When wetting is assisted by a 20 kHz frequency ultrasonic field, the wettability of liquid metal gets enhanced, which has been determined by the variations in thermodynamic energy and wetting kinetics. Wetting kinetic characteristics are divided into two stages according to pinning and depinning states of substrate/droplet contact lines. The droplet is static when the contact line is pinning, while it is forced to move when the contact line is depinning. When analyzing the pinning stage, high-speed photography reveals the evidence of oxide films being rapidly crushed outside the aluminum droplet. In this work, atomic models of spherical Al core being wrapped by alumina shell are tentatively built, whose dioxide microstructures are being transformed from face-centered cubic into liquid at the atomic scale. At the same time, the wetting experiment reveals that the oxide films show changes in the period of sonoprocessing from 3rd to 5th second.During the ultrasonic spreading behavior in the late stage, there is a trend of evident expansion of the base contact area. The entire ultrasonic process lasts for no longer than 10 s. With the aid of ultrasonic sinusoidal waves, the wettability of metal Al gets a rapid improvement. Both molecular dynamic (MD) investigations and the experiments results reveal that the precursor film phenomenon is never found unless wetting is assisted by ultrasonic treatments. However, the precursor film appears near the triple line after using ultrasonics in the droplet wetting process, whose formation is driven by ultrasonic oscillations. Due to the precursor film, the ultrasonic wetting contact angle is lower than the non-ultrasonic contact angle. In addition, the time-variant effective ultrasonic energy has been quantitatively evaluated. The numerical expressions of thermodynamic variables are well verified by former ultrasonic spreading test results, which altogether provide an intrinsic explanation of the fast-decreasing contact angle of Al/SiC.     

Film transitions of receding contact lines

When a solid plate is withdrawn from a liquid bath, a receding contact line is formed where solid, liquid, and gas meet. Above a critical speed U_cr, a stationary contact line can no longer exist and the solid will eventually be covered completely by a liquid film. Here we show that the bifurcation diagram of this coating transition changes qualitatively, from discontinuous to continuous, when decreasing the inclination angle θ_p of the plate. We show that this effect is governed by the presence of capillary waves, illustrating that the large scale flow strongly effects the maximum speed of dewetting.     

Evaporation of liquid droplets from a surface of anodized aluminum

The results of study of evaporation of water droplets and NaCl salt solution from a solid substrate made of anodized aluminum are presented in this paper. The experiment provides the parameters describing the droplet profile: contact spot diameter, contact angle, and droplet height. The specific rate of evaporation was calculated from the experimental data. The water droplets or brine droplets with concentration up to 9.1 % demonstrate evaporation with the pinning mode for the contact line. When the salt concentration in the brine is taken up to 16.7 %, the droplet spreading mode was observed. Two stages of droplet evaporation are distinguished as a function of phase transition rate.     

A Model for the Contact Angle of Liquid Droplets on Rough Surfaces

Up to now, measured results of the contact angle on rough surfaces have been explained usually based on the Wenzel equation （1936） and the Cassie-Baxter equation （1944）. However, these equations do not take into account considerations of liquid wetting behaviors on rough surfaces, and this leads to poor understanding of the mechanisms of contact between liquid droplets and rough surfaces （e.g. contact angle hysteresis）. We propose a new model for the contact angle of liquid droplets. By means of the present model, we can well understand the evperimental data which could not be well explained by the Wenzel equation and the Cassie-Baxter equation.