Journal
SOFT MATTER
Volume 14, Issue 25, Pages 5197-5204Publisher
ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY
DOI: 10.1039/c8sm00705e
Keywords
-
Categories
Funding
- Australian Research Council [FT120100473, LP140100594]
- Faculty of Engineering in University of Alberta
- Future Energy Systems in University of Alberta
- Netherlands Center for Multiscale Catalytic Energy Conversion (MCEC), an NWO Gravitation programme - Ministry of Education, Culture and Science of the government of the Netherlands
- Max Planck Society
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Solvent exchange is a simple solution-based process to produce surface nanodroplets over a large area. The final size of the droplets is determined by both the flow and solution conditions for a given substrate. In this work, we investigate the growth dynamics of surface nanodroplets during solvent exchange by using total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy (TIRF). The results show that during the solvent exchange, the formation of surface nanodroplets advanced on the surface in the direction of the flow. The time for the number density and surface coverage of the droplets to reach their respective plateau values is determined by the flow rate. From the observed evolution of the droplet volume and of the size of individual growing droplets, we are able to determine that the growth time of the droplets scales with the Peclet number Pe with a power law proportional to Pe(-1/2). This is consistent with Taylor-Aris dispersion, shedding light on the diffusive growth dynamics during the solvent exchange. Further, the spatial rearrangement of the droplets during coalescence demonstrates a preference in position shift based on size inequality, namely, the coalesced droplet resides closer to the larger of the two parent droplets. These findings provide a valuable insight toward controlling droplet size and spatial distribution.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available