Bouncing behaviors of suspension liquid drops on a superhydrophobic surface

Abstract  

This paper reveals three patterns of bouncing behaviors of suspension drops containing calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) powder on a superhydrophobic surface with the aid of a high-speed camera. In transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observation, the particles of CaCO₃ are shaped like sticks whose equivalent diameters are about 700 nm. Unlike a pure water drop, dense suspension drops cannot be pinched off at the bounce on the superhydrophobic surface due to a high effective viscosity, whereas the equilibrium contact angle appears to be almost identical in all kinds of droplets.     

A bouncing droplet on an inclined hydrophobic surface

Abstract  

A trajectory of a water droplet of volume 0.4 μL impacting and bouncing on the hydrophobic surface (143°) inclined with 12° is presented. The photograph was taken with a 35 mm format digital SLR camera in a long-time exposure of 2.5 s illuminated with a couple of continuous point lighting. Also, a selected comparison is shown for snapshots of a bouncing millimetric droplet, having volume of 10 μL, inclined angle of 15° and contact angle of 147°, during the first impact between the experimental results which were recorded with a high-speed camera at 1,222 frames/s and the 3D computation (using a Volume-of-Fluid method on 330 × 70 × 35 computational grids with dt = 1.0 × 10⁻⁴ s) which was carried out with FLUENT software. At the impact the droplet is found to deform and then dissipate the energy due to the surface tension.     

微液滴在超疏水表面的受迫振动及其接触线的固着-移动转变

利用高速摄影技术对超疏水表面液滴振动的动态行为进行观测,研究液滴在不同频率下的振动特性. 实验发现,液滴的共振频率满足Rayleigh方程,微液滴在超疏水表面具有自由液滴的振动性质. 在80–200 Hz的驱动频率范围内,接触线出现了明显的固着-移动现象,液滴的振动频率是驱动频率的一半,液滴振动时的形变较大. 当驱动频率大于200 Hz时,接触线基本固着,液滴的振动频率近似等于驱动频率,液滴共振时的形态边缘始终有节点存在. 分析表明,液滴对外界驱动的不同响应与接触线的振荡行为和变形程度密切相关 关键词： 超疏水表面 受迫振动 共振 接触线     

EHD atomization characteristics of a point-plate system with a porous point electrode

An electrohydrodynamic (EHD) atomization from a point-to-plate system, with a wet porous point as a corona electrode, has been studied. And the atomized water droplets from the wet porous point, as well as the water droplet traces, the water droplet charge-to-mass ratios, and the water droplet number concentrations, were investigated. It was observed that the wet porous point can atomize abundant amounts of water droplet, 2.8, 2.6 and 2.2 mg/min for negative, AC and positive corona, respectively. The migrated water droplet traces were observed. The positive wet porous point atomized very fine water droplets than those obtained with the negative wet porous point. Moreover, the water droplets atomized from the AC corona showed granular-like larger traces. A weak corona discharge can atomize water droplets very effectively. On the other hand, an intensive corona discharge can eject more water droplets. As a result with the wet porous point, the maximum corona-current-based and corona-power-based water droplet atomization yields of Y_C = 3.34, 3.32 and 3.25 μg/μAs and Y_P = 0.35, 0.40 and 0.27 mg/Ws have been obtained for the negative, AC and positive corona discharges.     

Fabrication and characterization of a cotton candy like surface with superhydrophobicity

Superhydrophobic thin films were prepared on glass by air-brushing the in situ polymerization compositions of D₅/SiO₂. The wettability and morphology were investigated by contact angle measurement and scanning electron microscopy. The most superhydrophobic samples prepared had a static water contact angle of 157° for a 5 μl droplet and a sliding angle of ∼1° for 10 μl droplet. Thermal stability analysis showed that the surface maintained superhydrophobic at temperature up to 450 °C. Air trapping and capillary force on superhydrophobic behavior were evaluated.     

超疏水表面液滴的振动特性及其与液滴体积的关系

超疏水表面液滴的振动特性与接触线的移动、液滴体积、基底振幅等因素密切相关.本文在基底振幅较小且恒定的条件下,研究了超疏水表面液滴的共振振幅、模式区间、共振频率等振动特性及其与液滴体积(20—500μL)的关系.此外,将基于一般性疏水表面建立的Noblin共振频率计算模型应用于超疏水表面,并提出“虚驻点”的概念,借此对模型进行了误差分析和修正.研究表明:1)共振时,液滴高度变化率即比振幅随体积增大而增大,随阶数增大而减小;2)各模式区间的起止频率首尾相接,其范围随体积增大而减小;3)液滴体积越大,共振频率越小,随着阶数增大,共振频率f与体积V的关系趋于f-V^–0.4,不同于一般性疏水表面上的f-V^–0.5;4)直接应用Noblin模型计算共振频率会产生较大误差,主要原因在于液滴表面波波段数量统计存在较大偏差,而修正后的模型可以准确计算超疏水表面大体积液滴的共振频率.     

Water entry of a superhydrophobic low-density sphere

Abstract  

This paper virtually demonstrates an air cavity formed by a superhydrophobic low-density sphere entering into water with the use of a high-speed camera. Unlike the previous results for a high-density sphere, the low-density sphere pinches off the resulting air cavity at the shorter depth before the cavity has fully grown, and attracts minimal air on the rear surface due to rapid deceleration of the sphere in water. The analytical model previously proposed on the time evolution of the cavity shape is thus shown to be no longer valid for the low-density sphere.     

Facile method to prepare stable superhydrophobic Co3O4 surface

A facile and novel method was developed to fabricate rough Co₃O₄ surface with hierarchical micro- and nanostructures by the combination of simple solid state reactions and coating process. After modification with stearic acid, a superhydrophobic surface with water contact angle of 155 ± 1.8° and sliding angle of 2° was obtained. The superhydrophobic Co₃O₄ surface remained superhydrophobic property in a wide pH range from 3 to 14. The superhydrophobic Co₃O₄ surface also showed excellent self-cleaning property and high stability in ambient environments.     

Electrowetting on ZnO nanowires

In this paper, we study the electrowetting character on ZnO nanowires. We grow the ZnO nanowires on indium tin oxide (ITO) by a hydrothermal method, and the ZnO nanowires surface is further hydrophobized by spin-coating Teflon. Such a prepared surface shows superhydrophobic properties with an initial contact angle 165°. When the applied external voltage between the ITO and the sessile droplet is less than 50 V, the contact angle continuously changed from 165° to 120°, and exhibits instant reversibility. For a slightly higher voltage, a mutation of the contact angle changing to 100° was observed and the contact angle was not reversible after removing the applied voltage, which indicates a transition from non-wetting state to wetting state. Further increasing of the applied voltage, the apparent contact angle decreased to an invariable value 70°, and electrical breakdown emerged synchronously.     

Superhydrophobic iron material surface with flower-like structures obtained by a facile self-assembled monolayer

A simple and economical route based on a K₂CO₃ mediated process was developed to synthesize three-dimensional (3D) flower-like Fe₃O₄ micro/nanoflakes on the surface of iron plates by a direct in-situ hydrothermal synthesis method. The prepared micro/nanoflakes were characterized by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. It was found that the width of the nanoflakes ranges from 50 to 100 nm, and the length of the flakes is about 3 μm. The morphology of Fe₃O₄ nanostructures can be tuned from simple isolated nanoflakes to the ordered 3D flower-like shape by increasing the reaction temperature. The wettability of the surface with 3D flower-like micro/nanoflakes was changed from hydrophilicity to superhydrophobicity by chemical modification with vinyl tirethoxy-silane. The static contact angles for water on both of the modified surfaces were larger than 150°, which was closely related to the chemical modification and hierarchical structure. Furthermore, the surfaces retained good superhydrophobic stability in long-term storage as well, which should be critical to the application of iron materials in engineering.     

Forming concentric double-emulsion droplets using electric fields

Double-emulsion droplets may be assembled into highly concentric shells using a uniform AC electric field to induce dipole/dipole interactions. The resulting force centers the inner droplet with respect to the outer shell if the outer droplet has a higher dielectric constant than the ambient, suspending liquid. The dielectric constant of the inner droplet does not influence this condition. Applying an electric field >10⁴ V_rms/m achieves centering of approximately 3–6 mm diameter droplets suspended in ～10 centipoise liquids within ～60 s. If the outer shell is electrically conductive, the effect depends strongly on frequency. In the case of the monomer-containing liquids requisite to forming foam shells for laser target fabrication, the electrical field frequency must be ～10 MHz or higher. Because of very stringent requirements imposed on the concentricity and sphericity of laser targets, electric field induced droplet distortion must be minimized. Consequently, the liquid constituents must be matched in density to ～0.1%.     

A comparative study of droplet impact dynamics on a dual-scaled superhydrophobic surface and lotus leaf

The impact dynamics of water droplets on an artificial dual-scaled superhydrophobic surface was studied and compared with that of a lotus leaf with impact velocity V up to 3 m/s. The lower critical impact velocity for the bouncing of droplets was about 0.08 m/s on both surfaces. At relatively low impact velocities, regular rebound of droplets and air bubble trapping and flow jetting on both surfaces were observed as V was increased. For intermediate V, partial pinning and rebound of droplets were found on the artificial dual-scaled surface due to the penetration of the droplets into the micro- and nano-scale roughness. On the lotus leaf, however, the droplets bounced off with intensive vibrations instead of being partially pinned on the surface because of the irregular distribution of microbumps on the leaf. As the impact velocity was sufficiently high, droplet splashing occurred on both surfaces. The contact time and restitution coefficient of the impinging droplets were also measured and discussed.     

Dielectric relaxation and ionic conductivity studies of LiCaPO<Subscript>4</Subscript>

The AC conductivity of the LiCaPO₄ compound has been measured in the temperature range 634–755 K and the frequency range 300 Hz–5 MHz. The impedance data were fitted to an equivalent circuit consisting of series combination of grains, grains boundary, and electrode elements. Dielectric data were analyzed using complex electrical modulus M* at various temperatures. The modulus plots are characterized by the presence of two relaxation peaks thermally activated. The activation energies obtained from the analysis of M″ (0.90 eV) and conductivity data (0.94 eV) are very close, revealing an ionic hopping mechanism.     

Electrical switching of wetting states on superhydrophobic surfaces: a route towards reversible Cassie-to-Wenzel transitions

We demonstrate that the equilibrium shape of the composite interface between superhydrophobic surfaces and drops in the superhydrophobic Cassie state under electrowetting is determined by the balance of the Maxwell stress and the Laplace pressure. Energy barriers due to pinning of contact lines at the edges of the hydrophobic pillars control the transition from the Cassie to the Wenzel state. Barriers due to the narrow gap between adjacent pillars control the lateral propagation of the Wenzel state. We demonstrate how reversible switching between the two wetting states can be achieved locally using suitable surface and electrode geometries.     

Alternating current surface photovoltage in thermally oxidized chromium-contaminated n-type silicon wafers

We investigated a variation of frequency-dependent alternating current (AC) surface photovoltages (SPVs) in thermally oxidized, chromium-contaminated, n-type silicon (Si) wafers. As previously reported, immediately after rinsing in Cr-contaminated solution, a Cr(OH)₃–Si contact causes a Schottky-barrier-type AC SPV on n-type Si. Upon oxidation at 373 K for 10 min, the Schottky barrier collapses and, with further oxidation, a metal-induced negative oxide charge, due to atomic bridging of (CrOSi)⁻ and/or CrO₂^-\mathrm{CrO}_{2}^{-} networks, definitely grows over time in SiO₂. For samples oxidized at temperatures between 823 and 1023 K for 30 min, the observed AC SPV gives evidence that the metal-induced negative oxide charge causes a strongly inverted state of the Si surface. At oxidation temperatures higher than 1023 K and /or for an oxidation time longer than 60 min, the level height of the AC SPV is reduced, implying that the strongly inverted state changes into a less depleted state, whilst, finally, the AC SPV disappears. In this case, the collapse of the (CrOSi)⁻ and/or CrO₂^-\mathrm{CrO}_{2}^{-} networks is anticipated, with a possible change into Cr₂O₃. The existence of the (CrOSi)⁻ and/or CrO₂^-\mathrm{CrO}_{2}^{-} networks has also been confirmed in p-type Si wafers.     

Fabrication of a superhydrophobic ZnO nanorod array film on cotton fabrics via a wet chemical route and hydrophobic modification

A superhydrophobic ZnO nanorod array film on cotton substrate was fabricated via a wet chemical route and subsequent modification with a layer of n-dodecyltrimethoxysilane (DTMS). The as-obtained cotton sample was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), scanning probe microscope (SPM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), respectively. The wettability of the cotton fabric sample was also studied by contact angle measurements. The modified cotton fabrics exhibited superhydrophobicity with a contact angle of 161° for 8 μL water droplet and a roll-off angle of 9° for 40 μL water droplet. It was shown that the proper surface roughness and the lower surface energy both played important roles in creating the superhydrophobic surface, in which the Cassie state dominated.     

Mechanical and thermal properties of a nanopowder talc compound produced by controlled ball milling

A powdered compound constituted by over the 95% of talc Mg₃Si₄O₁₀(OH)₂ with MgCO₃ and CaMg(CO₃)₂ as minor phases was mechanically deformed by compaction and shear to a nanosized particulate (crystallite size ~5 nm) in a specifically built planetary ball mill. The mechanical milling was conducted in a controlled thermodynamic environment (25 °C and 0.13 Pa) by using low mechanical load to minimise amorphisation of the material. Mechanical τ(ε) shear analysis and thermo-structural modifications of the nanostructured talc particulate were investigated after selected milling times (0, 1, 5 and 20 h). At the very early stages of milling (1 h) layer flattening, lamination and texturing of the talc particles occurred. For prolonged milling (up to 20 h), a progressive reduction of the TOT talc stacking layer coherence, from about 20–5 nm, and an increase of (001) microstrain from about 0.6–2.2 × 10⁻² nm, as a non-linear function of the treatment time, were observed. A progressive increase of the specific surface area up to 28 m²/g as a consequence of the particle size reduction took place at intermediate milling times (5 h) and reduced to about 10 m²/g at prolonged milling (20 h). Even the thermo-structural behaviour of the particulate was significantly modified. For 20-h milled talc, a severe decrease of the dehydroxylation temperature from about 900–600 °C was observed with a concomitant anticipation of the recrystallisation of talc into MgSiO₃ (enstatite). The τ(ε) behaviour of the compound was strongly affected by the milling treatment changing from a shear-softening regime (untreated and 1 h) to a shear-hardening one (20 h). The observed changes of talc are of great importance to understand the rheology and the thermal transformation kinetics of talc compounds and can be exploited in those industrial applications that required milling of talc, such as in the production of talc-polymers nanocomposites or in medium–high-temperature ceramic processes.     

Negative corona discharge from a water droplet under the pulsating DC field

Corona discharge from a fine water droplet always involves deformation of the droplet shape or Taylor-cone formation, emission of fine water jets or disruption of droplet. Therefore, corona discharge from a water droplet always manifests complicated aspects. In addition, disruption of Taylor cone simultaneously affects not only discharge current but also motion of water droplet. To confirm corona discharge phenomena from a water droplet protruded from a tip of a metal capillary tube with a diameter of 1 mm, negative corona discharge was investigated by using a water droplet located at a tip of grounded rod electrode facing a ring electrode with positive dc voltage superimposed by ac one. Since the droplet has inherent resonant vibrating frequency defined by the size or volume, the volume of water droplet was adjusted at 20 nL where the corresponding resonant frequency was 500 Hz. The period of the event of successive corona discharge is exactly consistent with resonant frequency defined by the size of the water droplet. As a result, corona pulse trains with a definite duration appeared intermittently corresponding to its resonant vibration. When dc voltage superimposed by ac voltage with resonant frequency of 500 Hz was applied to the water droplet, corona pulse trains appeared at the period corresponding to the frequency. The maximum value of corona current reasonably increased with the applied voltage. Even when the frequency of ac field superimposed on dc field was varied from the resonant frequency, corona pulse trains occur corresponding to not only the superimposed field frequency but also resonant frequency.     

Electron Spin Resonance Study on the Photoinduced Electron Transfer in Chlorophyll a in Reconstituted Lipid Bilayer Vesicles

Abstract  

The photoinduced electron transfer from chlorophyll a through the interface of positively charged dioctadecyltrimethylammonium chloride (DODAC), neutral dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) and negatively charged dihexadecylphosphate (DHP) headgroup of the lipid bilayers was studied. The photoinduced radicals were identified by electron spin resonance (ESR) and radical yields of chlorophyll a were determined by double integration of the ESR spectra. The formation of vesicles was identified indirectly by measuring change of the λ _max value of optical absorption spectrophotometer from diethyl ether solution to vesicle solutions, and observed directly with scanning and transmission electron microscopic images. The interaction distance between chlorophyll a and interface water (D₂O) determined by deuterium modulation depth with electron spin echo modulation (ESEM) showed a decreasing order DODAC > DPPC > DHP. The interface charge of each vesicle was determined with zeta potential measurement. The interface charge of the lipid bilayers affected the radical yields of chlorophyll a more critically than the interaction distance between chlorophyll a and interface water.     

Control of flow in forced jets: a comparison of round and square cross sections

Abstract  

Direct numerical simulation of incompressible, spatially developing round and square jets at a Reynolds number of 1,000 is performed. The effect of two types of inlet perturbation on the flow structures is analyzed. First, dual-mode excitation, which is a combination of axisymmetric perturbation at preferred mode frequency and helical perturbation at sub-harmonic frequency is used, having a disturbance frequency ratio equal to R _f  = 2. It is observed that the circular and square jets bifurcate and spread on one of the orthogonal planes forming a Y-shape jet in the downstream while no spreading is visible on the other plane. The second type of perturbation is a flapping excitation at a sub-harmonic frequency, St _F = 0.2. It leads to a Y-shape bifurcation for both square and circular jets. On the other hand, for flapping excitation at the preferred mode frequency, namely, St _F = 0.4, a circular jet bifurcates into a Ψ-shape whereas the square jet reveals simple spreading.