Academic Journal

Spreading of Micrometer-Sized Droplets under the Influence of Insoluble and Soluble Surfactants: A Numerical Study

Bibliographic Details
Title: Spreading of Micrometer-Sized Droplets under the Influence of Insoluble and Soluble Surfactants: A Numerical Study
Authors: Thomas Antritter, Peter Hachmann, Tatiana Gambaryan-Roisman, Bernhard Buck, Peter Stephan
Source: Colloids and Interfaces, Vol 3, Iss 3, p 56 (2019)
Publisher Information: MDPI AG, 2019.
Publication Year: 2019
Collection: LCC:Chemistry
Subject Terms: wetting, spreading, complex fluids, surfactant, computational fluid dynamics, volume-of-fluid method, Chemistry, QD1-999
Description: Wetting and spreading of surfactant solutions play an important role in many technical applications. In printing processes, the size of individual droplets is typically on the order of a few tens of microns. The purpose of this study is to develop a better understanding of the interaction between spreading and surfactant transport on these small length and related time scales. Therefore, numerical simulations based on the volume-of-fluid method including Marangoni stresses and transport of an insoluble or soluble surfactant are performed. The results for an insoluble surfactant show competing effects of Marangoni flow on the one hand, and a decreasing surfactant concentration as the droplet spreads on the other hand. Even in the case of a soluble surfactant, adsorption and desorption could only partly mitigate these effects, demonstrating the importance of the sorption kinetics for fast, small scale wetting processes.
Document Type: article
File Description: electronic resource
Language: English
ISSN: 2504-5377
Relation: https://www.mdpi.com/2504-5377/3/3/56; https://doaj.org/toc/2504-5377
DOI: 10.3390/colloids3030056
Access URL: https://doaj.org/article/e94ec7f770a143bbaa5ca04b72dca71b
Accession Number: edsdoj.94ec7f770a143bbaa5ca04b72dca71b
Database: Directory of Open Access Journals
Description
ISSN:25045377
DOI:10.3390/colloids3030056