The role of electric charge in microdroplets impacting on conducting surfaces

A rich phenomenology is revealed by temporally resolved image sequences of electrically charged ethanol microdroplets impacting on a conductive surface at temperatures bracketing the liquid boiling point. Notable phenomena include the flattening of the sessile droplets with reduced contact angle, increased evaporation rates for substrate temperatures below the fluid boiling point, and the hindrance of droplet rebound at the Leidenfrost temperature. Scaling considerations are presented to rationalize the observed behavior and to generalize conclusions to a broader droplet size range. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3431739]