Capillary filling in drop merging: Dynamics of the four-phase contact point

The merging of immiscible drops differs significantly from the merging of miscible drops due to the formation of a liquid-liquid interface between drops. The immiscibility requires the formation of a four-phase contact point, where the drops, the gas, and the substrate meet. We show that this point has its own unique dynamics, never studied beforehand. For very different scenarios, the propagation distance of this point follows scales with time like t(1/2). A model balancing the driving and dissipative forces agrees with our experiments. (C) 2022 Author(s).

Automated summary

The merging of immiscible drops differs from that of miscible drops due to the formation of a liquid-liquid interface. The four-phase contact point between drops, gas, and substrate exhibits its own distinct dynamics, which have not been studied before. The propagation distance of this point follows a t(1/2) scaling with time for various scenarios, and a model balancing driving and dissipative forces agrees with experimental results.