Solidification contact angles of molten droplets deposited on solid surfaces

Droplet impact and equilibrium contact angle have been extensively studied. However, solidification contact angle, which is the final contact angle formed by molten droplets impacting on cold surfaces, has never been a study focus. The formation of this type of contact angle was investigated by experimentally studying the deposition of micro-size droplets (∼39 μm in diameter) of molten wax ink on cold solid surfaces. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) was used to visualize dots formed by droplets impacted under various impact conditions, and parameters varied included droplet initial temperature, substrate temperature, flight distance of droplet, and type of substrate surface. It was found that the solidification contact angle was not single-valued for given droplet and substrate materials and substrate temperature, but was strongly dependent on the impact history of droplet. The angle decreased with increasing substrate and droplet temperatures. Smaller angles were formed on the surface with high wettability, and this wetting effect increased with increasing substrate temperature. Applying oil lubricant to solid surfaces could change solidification contact angle by affecting the local fluid dynamics near the contact line of spreading droplets. Assuming final shape as hemispheres did not give correct data of contact angles, since the final shape of deposited droplets significantly differs from a hemispherical shape.     

Effects of temperature,size of water droplets,and surface roughness on nanowetting properties investigated using molecular dynamics simulation

The wetting properties of water nanodroplets on a gold substrate are studied using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The effects of temperature, droplet size, and surface roughness are evaluated in terms of molecular trajectories, internal energy, dynamic contact angle, and the radial distribution function. The simulation results show that the wetting ability and spreading speed of water greatly increases with increasing temperature. The dynamic contact angle of water on the gold substrate decreases with increasing temperature and decreasing droplet size and surface roughness, which leads to an increase in wetting ability. The compactness of a water droplet increases with decreasing temperature and droplet size, and slightly increases with degree of roughness. The internal energy of a water droplet decreases with increasing surface roughness, indicating that droplets form more stably on a rough surface.     

硅基双层复合自组装分子膜结构特性及其润湿行为的分子动力学模拟

用分子动力学方法模拟了单晶硅（Si）表面N-3-（三甲氧基硅烷基）丙基乙二胺（DA）-月桂酰氯（LA）（DA-LA）双层复合自组装分子膜（SAMs）的结构特性,得到膜层中DA和LA分子的最佳覆盖率及分布情况。进一步讨论了水滴在DA-LA双层复合SAMs表面的润湿过程,通过接触角和径向分布函数等参量对其润湿行为进行了分析。研究表明：DA分子在Si上覆盖率为50%、LA分子在DA自组装单分子膜（DA SAM）上接枝率为100%时,分子膜呈有序排布,体系能量最低,从分子角度揭示了Si表面覆盖致密SAMs的形成机制。当取最佳覆盖率体系进行润湿机制模拟时,DA-LA双层复合SAMs表面水滴接触角与实验值相似,表现出良好的疏水性。而DA SAM表面由于DA分子短而稀疏,暴露出底层更亲水的羟基分子,从而导致所得接触角较实验偏小;经测量及计算得出,羟基化Si表面自由能最高,表现出较强的亲水性;DA表面次之;DA-LA表面自由能最低,表现出良好的疏水性。进一步分析发现：羟基化Si表面、DA SAM表面与水滴间存在氢键,加强了表面的亲水性,而DA-LA双层复合SAMs表面与水滴间只存在弱范德华力,有利于表面呈现疏水性。     

DISPLACEMENT OF PARTICLES DEPOSITED ON SOLID SURFACES BY A MOVING GAS-LIQUID-SOLID INTERFACE

ABSTRACT

Deposited small particles change their position and can build aggregates on surfaces when wetted/dewetted. The size and form of these aggregates depend on the amount of water condensed, the form of the particles and the contact angles. Experiments with glass spheres and quartz particles on three different surfaces with water as wetting liquid were carried out. Results of the wetting/dewetting experiments are shown and discussed. A model is presented to estimate the magnitude of involved forces and the displacement of the particles taking into account contact angles, amount of condensed water, and size of particles. The model explains, why particles, as observed, tend to gather near the edge of a droplet at small surface contact angles and near the droplet center at high surface contact angles.     

DISPLACEMENT OF PARTICLES DEPOSITED ON SOLID SURFACES BY A MOVING GAS-LIQUID-SOLID INTERFACE

Deposited small particles change their position and can build aggregates on surfaces when wetted/dewetted. The size and form of these aggregates depend on the amount of water condensed, the form of the particles and the contact angles. Experiments with glass spheres and quartz particles on three different surfaces with water as wetting liquid were carried out. Results of the wetting/dewetting experiments are shown and discussed. A model is presented to estimate the magnitude of involved forces and the displacement of the particles taking into account contact angles, amount of condensed water, and size of particles. The model explains, why particles, as observed, tend to gather near the edge of a droplet at small surface contact angles and near the droplet center at high surface contact angles.     

Motion of liquid droplets on a superhydrophobic oleophobic surface

Developing a superhydrophobic oleophobic material is achieved by two criteria: low surface energy and properly designed surface morphology. The relationships among surface tensions, contact angles, contact angle hystereses, roll-off angles, and surface morphologies of such materials are studied. Numerical formulae related to the surface energy of liquids and solids are used to predict the wetting behavior of superhydrophobic and oleophobic materials. Using chemical and geometrical modifications, a superhydrophobic oleophobic surface was prepared. Good agreement between the predicted and measured contact angles and roll-off angles were obtained. The effect of the contact angle hysteresis on the roll-off angle is described to understand the motion of a droplet when the droplet begins to roll off.     

Design of artificial lotus leaves using nonwoven fabric

The apparent contact angles of a droplet deposited on the surfaces of thermal-bonded nonwoven fabrics were presented, and the characteristics required for a superhydrophobic surface were described. For a nonwoven superhydrophobic surface, the Cassie–Baxter model describes the wetting of rough surfaces. Using topological and chemical surface modifications of nylon 6,6 nonwoven fabric, artificial Lotus leaves having water contact angles >150° were prepared. Good agreement between the predictions based on the original Cassie–Baxter model and experiments was obtained. The angle at which a water droplet rolls off the surface has also been used to define a superhydrophobic surface. Superhydrophobic surfaces were prepared by two criteria: a low-surface energy and a properly designed surface roughness.     

接触角和质量分数对液滴冻结过程的影响

本文通过Fluent软件的凝固/熔化模型,模拟了接触角及质量分数对纯水和氯化钠溶液在冷表面冻结过程的影响,选择铜片为亲水表面,纳米膜表面为疏水表面,对液滴在不同表面特性条件下的冻结过程进行实验研究.结果表明:液滴在冷表面的冻结特性与接触角、质量分数有关.当溶液质量分数一定时,接触角越小,液滴冻结速度越快,完全冻结时间越...     

Superhydrophilic textured-surfaces on stainless steel substrates

Aluminum-induced crystallization (AIC) of amorphous silicon (a-Si) is used to produce micro/nano-textured surfaces on stainless steel substrates at low temperatures for altering the wetting property of the substrates. The micro/nano-textured surfaces were characterized using scanning electron microscopy, X-ray spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction. The wetting properties of the textured surfaces were characterized by water contact angle measurements. It was found that AIC of a-Si changes the apparent contact angles of stainless steel substrates from 90° to about 0°, measured 0.5 s after a water droplet drops on the surfaces. The study also shows that a superhydrophilic textured surface can be converted to a highly hydrophobic surface with an apparent contact angle of 145° by coating the surface with a layer of octadecyltrichlorosilane.     

Wetting behaviour of laser textured Ti3SiC2 surface with micro-grooved structures

In the present paper, micro-grooved Ti₃SiC₂ surfaces with different roughness were fabricated by pulsed laser processing. The surface topography and chemical composition of smooth and micro-grooved surfaces were characterised. The wetting behaviours of smooth and micro-grooved Ti₃SiC₂ surfaces such as static contact angle, anisotropic wettability and contact angle evolution versus time were investigated. The experimental results show that micro-grooved structures can be efficiently fabricated on Ti₃SiC₂ surface by laser processing. The contact angle of micro-grooved surface was increased by 64.2° compared with that of smooth surface. The difference values of contact angles between perpendicular and parallel direction were <?10°. The wetting state of droplet on textured surface was close to Cassie–Baxter model.     

超疏水表面融霜演化行为及排液特性

及时脱除热力除霜后冷表面残留液滴,可以延缓二次结霜。本文对室温环境下超疏水表面融霜演化行为进行了微观可视化观测,对比分析了表面倾角对裸铝表面(接触角88. 0°)及超疏水表面(接触角151. 1°)融霜排液的影响。实验结果表明,水平超疏水表面融霜过程存在单液膜卷曲收缩及多液滴合并两种行为,较大的静态接触角及较小的接触角滞后是促使多液滴合并的主要原因。与倾斜裸表面融霜过程存在大量残留液滴不同,超疏水表面融霜液可实现自排除;当表面倾角>30°时,超疏水表面排液率可达90%以上。结合表面润湿特性及表面倾角推导出表面液滴临界脱落半径,与实验结果吻合较好。     

超疏水Ti6Al4V表面的制备及其润湿性

为了使Ti6Al4V合金具有超疏水特性,采用激光技术加工规则点阵状纹理,然后采用自组装技术在试样表面制备自组装分子膜,得到了超疏水Ti6Al4V表面.激光加工构造的微米级点阵结构规整,形成了具有一定高度的类似锥台或柱状的凸起.通过激光加工和沉积自组装分子膜,Ti6Al4V试样表面的水接触角显著增大,最大可达到151°.将测得的接触角与分别用Wenzel模型和Cassie模型计算的理论值进行比较,实测结果更接近Cassie模型的结果.通过改变激光加工表面微结构的参数,可以控制表面接触角的大小.随着表面粗糙度值的增大,接触角呈增大趋势.当表面粗糙度大于4μm时,接触角均大于150°,形成超疏水表面.     

Sessile Drop Wettability in Normal and Reduced Gravity

This paper presents initial work performed to develop a database of contact angles of sessile drops in reduced gravity. Currently, there is no database of wettability of sessile drops in reduced gravity. The creation of such a database is imperative for continued investigations of heat and/or mass transfer in reduced gravity and future engineering designs. In this research, liquid drops of water and ethanol were created on aluminum and PTFE substrates. The formed drops were characterized by their dimensions including contact angle, wetted perimeter and droplet shape in both normal gravity and reduced gravity. The droplets were recorded during testing with high definition video and the images obtained digitally analyzed, post-test, to determine their characteristics as a function of the experimental parameters. The Queensland University of Technology (QUT) Drop Tower Facility was utilized for the reduced gravity experimentation. For droplets with diameters above their capillary length, the changes in drop dimensions and/or wettability was observed. The Young-Laplace equation was validated to accurately predict the contact angle in reduced gravity for small droplets, however it was not adequate to describe the contact angle for larger drops (above the drops associated capillary length).     

Parameters controlling solidification of molten wax droplets falling on a solid surface

An experimental study was done to identify parameters that determine the shape of splats formed by droplets of paraffin wax impacting and freezing on a polished aluminum surface. Impact velocity was varied from 0.5 to 2.7 m/s and surface temperature from 23 to 73 °C. Droplet impact was photographed, and the splat diameter and liquid-solid contact angle measured from photographs. A simple energy conservation model was used to predict the maximum extent of droplet spread and the rate of droplet solidification. The extent of droplet solidification was found to be too small to affect droplet impact dynamics. Photographs showed liquid recoiling in the droplet center following impact on a cold surface (23 °C); the height of recoil diminished if either substrate temperature or impact velocity was increased. Droplet recoil was attributed to surface tension pulling back the periphery of the splat. Reducing the surface temperature increased surface tension, promoting recoil. At sufficiently large impact velocities droplets fragmented. A model based on the Rayleigh-Taylor instability was used to predict the number of satellite droplets that broke loose after impact.     

Jet printing of colloidal solutions – Numerical modeling and experimental verification of the influence of ink and surface parameters on droplet spreading

Ink jet printing of functional materials promises an efficient route for the manufacturing of future low cost and large-area electronics applications. The effect of capillary flow of thin liquid films, the control of droplet spreading by suitably influencing the wetting properties of surfaces, the rheology of the ink and the process design play a relevant role in improvement of ink jet printed patterns. This work presents the experimentally based numerical study of the shape of single ink jetted droplets controlled by homogeneous contact angle distributions. The dynamics of the fluid on the substrate surface is treated in the frame of the lubrication theory using the concept of a precursor film and modeling the equilibrium contact angle by a disjoining pressure. The model describes the spreading of axisymmetric droplets considering different material and process parameter configurations. It is shown that the spreading process can be modeled separately from the drying process within a certain range of contact angles.     

动态毛吸法测定纤维及粉末料的接触角研究

本文用动态毛吸法研究了表面处理对纤维浸润性的影响,结果表明碳纤维及聚酯纤维表面经冷等离子体氧处理,浸润性有很大的改善,碳纤维约提高四倍,这是因为等离子氧表面处理过程,将含氧基团羧基,羟基及羰基等引入到表面所致。同时从测得的浸润过程表面自由能改变值△γ,计算出水对纤维的接触角,它与采用接触角测定仪倾斜法所测得的结果基本上一致。从所测得的接触角值也可以看出表面经处理之后,浸润性得以改善。如碳纤维由77°降为63°,聚酯纤维由77°降为52°。此外我们还研究了煤粉和玻璃粉体系对水的浸润性,发现水对玻璃粉的浸润性优于煤粉,前者的浸润接触角为47°、后者则为90°,此接触角值也与采用接触角测定仪由静滴法测得水对片材的接触角相一致。由此可见动态毛吸法可以用于研究纤维及粉末体系的浸润性,而且操作简单易行,测试周期短。      

湿工况下翅片表面冷凝水滴运动的数值模型

了解析湿过程中冷凝水对换热器翅片侧换热和压降的影响机制,需要首先建立湿工况下翅片表面冷凝水滴的运动模型。通过对翅片表面上冷凝水滴进行受力分析,得出了水滴运动的判断条件;建立了水滴接触角预测模型,并结合VOF界面追踪方法来描述气液相界面、计算表面张力,从而建立了预测冷凝水滴在竖直翅片表面运动过程的数值模型。通过水滴运动实验对模型的可靠性进行了验证：水滴与翅片表面接触角的模拟值与实验值的平均误差为2.11%,最大误差为2.51%;水滴运动速度的模拟值与实验值的平均误差为6.5%,最大误差为10%。结果表明：水滴运动模型能够准确的预测水滴在翅片表面的运动规律。     

Hyperhydrophilic rough surfaces and imaginary contact angles

The complete wetting of rough surfaces is only poorly understood, since the underlying phenomena can neither be described by the Cassie‐Baxter nor the Wenzel equation. An experimental accessiblility by the sessile drop method is also very limited. The term “superhydrophilicity” was an attempt to understand the wetting of rough surfaces, but a clear definition is still forthcoming, mainly because non‐superhydrophilic surfaces can also display a contact angle of zero. Since the Wilhelmy balance is based on force measurements, it offers a technology for obtaining signals during the whole wetting process. We have obtained evidence that additional forces occur during the complete wetting of rough surfaces and that mathematically contact angles for a hydrophilicity beyond the contact angle of zero can be defined by imaginary numbers. A hydrophilized TPS‐surface obtained by chemical wettability switching from a superhydrophobic surface has been previously characterized by dynamic imaginary contact angles of 20i°–21i° and near‐zero hysteresis. Here an extremely high wetting rate is demonstrated reaching a virtual imaginary contact angle of Θ_V,Adv > 3.5i° in less than 210 ms. For a rough surface displaying imaginary contact angles and extremely high wetting rates we suggest the term hyperhydrophilicity. Although, as will be shown, the physical basis of imaginary contact angles is still unclear, they significantly expand our methodology, the range of wettability measurements and the tools for analyzing rough hydrophilic surfaces. They may also form the basis for a new generation of rationally constructed medicinal surfaces.     

Superhydrophobic surface directly created by electrospinning based on hydrophilic material

We describe a method to form hydrophobic surfaces using PHBV (Poly (hydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyvalerate))—a kind of intrinsically hydrophilic material. The concentration of polymer solutions was varied to control the surface morphology and resultant wetting property. The as-prepared films were characterized by micro-scale valley-and-hill structure, which was formed by aggregating of electrospun beads. The bead morphology changed from smooth to porous and popcorn-like with decreased concentrations. The shape of water droplet on these surfaces had contact angles ranging from 110.7 to 158.1°, with a maximum standard deviation of 2.5°. It was found that both the micro and nanostructure were important to create a superhydrophobic surface.     

Aerosol assisted deposition of melamine-formaldehyde resin: Hydrophobic thin films from a hydrophilic material

An intrinsically hydrophilic melamine-formaldehyde thin film (water contact angle of 34° for a cast flat surface) was deposited on a glass substrate using aerosol assisted chemical vapour deposition. The resultant resin films showed a highly developed microstructure consisting of spherical structures that were agglomerated into towers. The surface wetted via a Cassie-Baxter mechanism with air trapped underneath the water droplets and resultant water contact angles as high as 135°. Film thickness and coverage were crucial in determining the wetting properties. Films with limited deposition gave hydrophilic results, whereas thicker films greater than 4 μm were superhydrophilic. This behaviour could be explained by the ease of trapping air under the coating. It is shown that the water wetting properties of a single material can be altered from superhydrophilic to near superhydrophobic by controlling the surface microstructure in a single-step aerosol route.