Elasticity and damping ratio measurement of droplets on super-hydrophobic surfaces

The measurement of the droplets' elasticity is vitally important in microfluidic and ink-jet printing. It refers to the ability of the droplet to restore its original shape and strong robustness. This study investigated a novel method to measure elasticity. The plate coated with super-hydrophobic layers pressed on a droplet and the elastic force was recorded by an electronic balance. Meanwhile, a mathematical model was constructed to calculate the changes of the droplet area under the force. The measurement showed that external work mainly converts into surface energy and the damping ratio increases from 0.068 to 0.261 with the increase of mass fraction from 0 to 80 wt%. It also indicates that the novel method can accurately and efficiently measure the elasticity of droplets.

Automated summary

This study investigated a novel method to measure the elasticity of droplets using a plate coated with super-hydrophobic layers and an electronic balance to record the elastic force. A mathematical model was also constructed to calculate the changes in droplet area. The results showed that the method accurately and efficiently measured the droplets' elasticity.