Estimation of contact angles on fibers

A droplet of liquid placed on a flat high-energy solid surface spreads to give a thin film so that no macroscopic droplet shape exists. On a chemically identical solid surface with only the geometry changed to a cylinder, the same droplet can have an equilibrium conformation. When the equilibrium conformation is of a barrel type, the profile of the droplet changes rapidly in curvature as the three-phase contact line is approached and the direct measurement of the contact angle is difficult. This work considers the theoretical profile for barrel-type droplets on cylinders and discusses how the inflection angle in the profile depends on droplet parameters. Experimental results are reported for poly(dimethylsiloxane) oils on a range of fiber surfaces and these are used to estimate the equilibrium contact angle from the inflection angle. The drop radius and volume dependence of the inflection angle is confirmed.     

倾斜微结构疏水表面液滴的滞后特性

倾斜微结构疏水表面液滴的滞后特性包括接触角滞后和滚动角。目前,具有较高精度的微结构疏水表面滚动角模型是以理想液滴形状为计算基础,忽略了重力、接触角滞后以及能垒引起的变形。本文以聚二甲基硅氧烷（PDMS）为基底,制备了方柱状微结构疏水表面,考虑疏水表面微观结构以及液滴大小两方面的因素,研究了倾斜微结构疏水表面液滴的滞后特性。从力和能量的角度对其影响机理进行了分析,通过滚动角理论值与实际值的比较发现,微方柱间距较大时,接触角滞后和能垒对滚动角影响显著,证实了该分析的合理性,为研究更加精确的滚动角模型奠定了理论基础。     

质子交换膜燃料电池内扩散层/流道表面处液态水滴的运动特征

针对燃料电池流场内任意选取的特征单元建立二维模型,分析在剪切流作用下附着在扩散层（GDL）/流道（GFC）表面液滴的运动特征,认为液滴运动时迟滞角（液滴运动过程中前进角与后退角间的差值）与液滴高度、气体流速存在着一定关系;而与所选取的特征单元长度无关。模型还有效耦合了实验总结的液滴开始运动的条件关系式,真实反映了液滴开始运动、不断加速追赶及聚并的运动趋势。结果表明：选取矮流道,增大气体流速,采用疏水的GDL增大液滴的不稳定性,同时增加流道表面的亲水性,有利于液滴获得较大加速度,并以拐角流的形式快速从电池内排除。     

滴状冷凝中液滴的脉动规律及分形分布模型中相邻两代液滴半径比参数

分析研究了滴状冷凝实验过程中液滴的随机运动行为以及液滴分布的分形特征,发现液滴的运动和分布与接触角及接触角滞后有关.得到了液滴分形分布模型中相邻两代液滴半径比与接触角滞后的关系式,该式计算结果与实验结果十分吻合.实验结果表明,在存在接触角滞后的表面上,液滴以脉动方式长大,导致液滴分布呈离散分代分布,并且,液滴脉动行为还受诱导因素的影响,在较强诱导因素作用的冷凝过程中,液滴分代呈明显的台阶分布;反之,在较弱的诱导条件下,分代特征不明显.液滴受接触角滞后影响而发生的脉动行为还表现为液滴偶然与随机的弹射.在液滴频繁脉动形成分代分布特征的过程中,液滴由接触角为前进角状态脉动到等体积下接触角为平衡角状态的可能性较大.     

Determination of the Contact Angle of a Liquid Droplet on a Carbon Fiber

This paper describes an improved method for the accurate determination of the contact angle of a liquid droplet on a monofilament. Theoretically, in this improved method, contact angles do not depend on droplet size or the radius of the fiber. The accuracy of this method is thus expected to be higher than any other standard methods.     

Contact Angle Hysteresis on Polymer Surfaces: An Experimental Study

In order to characterize a solid surface, the commonly used approach is to measure the advancing and receding contact angles, i.e., the contact angle hysteresis. However, often an estimate of the average wettability of the solid–liquid system is required, which involves both the dry and wetted states of the surface. In this work, we measured advancing and receding contact angles on six polymer surfaces (polystyrene, poly(ethylene terephthalate), poly(methyl methacrylate), polycarbonate, unplasticized poly(vinyl chloride), and poly(tetrafluoroethylene)) with water, ethylene glycol and formamide using the sessile drop and captive bubble methods. We observed a general disagreement between these two methods in the advancing and receding contact angles values and the average contact angle determined separately by each method, although the contact angle hysteresis range mostly agreed. Surface mobility, swelling or liquid penetration might explain this behaviour. However, we found that the 'cross' averages of the advancing and receding angles coincided. This finding suggests that the cross-averaged angle might be a meaningful contact angle for polymer–liquid systems. Hence, we recommend using both the sessile drop and captive bubble methods.     

液滴形状法测量纤维接触角的研究

介绍了液滴形状法测量单根纤维接触角的基本原理 ,利用显微镜观察液滴的形状 ,将数据输入根据Young Laplace方程编写的程序中计算出接触角。通过实验验证 ,该法简单可行 ,可以有效的表征 0～ 60°的纤维表面接触角。     

Determination of the Contact Angle of a Liquid Droplet on a Carbon Fiber

This paper describes an improved method for the accurate determination of the contact angle of a liquid droplet on a monofilament. Theoretically, in this improved method, contact angles do not depend on droplet size or the radius of the fiber. The accuracy of this method is thus expected to be higher than any other standard methods.     

Instability of the three-phase contact region and its effect on contact angle relaxation

Contact angle relaxation was measured for captive air bubbles placed on solid surfaces of varying degrees of heterogeneity, roughness, and stability, in water. The experimental results indicate that both advancing and receding contact angles undergo slow relaxation in these water-air-solid systems, due to instabilities of the three-phase contact line region. It is shown that the advancing contact angle decreases and the receding contact angle increases for many systems over a period of a few hours. Also, examples of reverse progressions are reported. Additionally, in extreme cases, the contact angle oscillates down and up, over and over again, preventing the system from stabilization/equilibration. Four different mechanisms are proposed to explain the contact angle relaxation. These include (i) pinning of the three-phase contact line and its slow evolution; (ii) the formation of microdroplets on the solid surface and their coalescence with the base of the gas bubble, which causes dynamic behavior of the three-phase contact line; (iii) deformation of the solid surface and its effect on the apparent contact angle; and (iv) chemical instability of the solid.     

Theoretical and experimental analysis of droplet evaporation on solid surfaces

The evaporation of sessile drops is central to a number of important processes, including printing, washing and coating. In this paper, the evaporation of water sessile droplets on hydrophobised silicon wafers and Teflon was analysed from theoretical and experimental perspectives. The contact angle, volume and base radius of the water droplets as a function of time were determined using tensiometry. The theoretical analysis showed different evaporative flux phenomena for acute and obtuse contact angles. The non-linear evolution of residual droplet volume, contact angle and base radius are solved and depend on the hydrophobicity of the solid surface and droplet dimension. Good agreement between the theoretical and experimental results was observed during pinning and depinning stages of evaporation. It was shown that the surface roughness, hydrophobicity and the contact angle hysteresis significantly influenced the evaporation of sessile drops and need to be considered when quantifying the evaporation process.     

A new method for the characterisation of the wettability of powders

The wetting characteristics of fine powders play an important role in a variety of processes. The most important way of characterising the wettability of a fluid/fluid/solid system is to measure the contact angle. This paper describes a relatively simple method for the determination of the contact angle on powdery materials. The technique involves the measurement of the dynamic contact angle which is formed when a liquid drop is placed on a horizontal porous surface. On the basis of the measured dynamic contact angle as a function of time an “apparent” static contact angle has been defined, which gives a measure of the wettability of porous solid systems by analogy with the wetting of non-porous solids. Determinations with glass beads and NaCl-powders as the test materials indicate that the measured value depends on the particle size of the powder, the porosity and the temperature. It was concluded that the capillary penetration of the liquid droplet into the porous media itself influences the wetting characteristics.     

Detachment of Droplets in a Fully Developed Turbulent Channel Flow

Liquid aerosols deform and detach from solid surfaces under an external force. It is a familiar phenomenon in many engineering applications. This article experimentally investigates the deformation and detachment of liquid droplets on three different solid surfaces in a fully developed turbulent channel flow. It is shown that the droplets either are compressed or elongate under the turbulent flow. The elongation of the droplet due to the turbulent flow is measured and presented. When the friction velocity of the flow exceeds a critical value, the droplets slide along the surface. The critical friction velocity is found empirically to be inversely proportional to the square root of the contact diameter. The sliding velocity after detachment is also reported. It has been observed by many researchers that, when the external force is gravity or a simple shear flow, the retention force of the droplet is proportional to the difference between the cosines of the receding and advancing contact angles. As the shape of a deformed droplet is much more complex under a turbulent flow, this article discusses the applicability of the same relation to the turbulent channel flow.

Copyright 2014 American Association for Aerosol Research     

Fat Crystals Influence Methylcellulose Stabilization of Lipid Emulsions

Oil-in-water emulsions stabilized with methylcellulose (MC) varied in stability depending on the composition of the fat phase. When droplets were composed entirely of liquid oil, MC was able to form a continuous, protective film around the droplets. Therefore, when two liquid oil droplets were brought into contact, they underwent extreme shape deformation but did not coalesce, even when excess force was used. Subsequently, interfacial crystals extending into the aqueous phase from palm kernel oil droplets were aimed into an entirely liquid oil droplet. The MC-coated droplet would deform wherever the crystal contacted; however, the protruding crystals could not penetrate into the liquid oil droplet. Conversely, when the target droplet was composed of a small amount of solid fat that resulted in localized crystalline regions and the interfacial crystals of the second droplet were aimed at this region, they then easily pierced the droplet. This demonstrates that MC is an excellent stabilizer for liquid oil droplets but internal lipid crystals within fat globules can alter MC surface conformation to allow for crystal penetration and arrested coalescence.     

硅烷偶联剂改性芳纶的性能测试

采用硅烷偶联剂对芳纶进行改性,然后用傅里叶红外光谱仪、单一纤维接触角测试仪和X射线衍射仪对改性前后的芳纶进行测试、观察并分析。结果显示:红外光谱分析表明芳纶的改性发生在纤维的表面,并没有对纤维大分子产生明显破坏;接触角测试表明改性后芳纶的接触角变小,说明KH550硅烷偶联剂可改善芳纶的亲水性;X射线衍射测试表明芳纶结晶度有所下降,可以更好地与树脂黏结。     

Maximum Spreading of Urea Water Solution during Drop Impingement

Droplet impingement of urea water solution (UWS) is a common source for liquid film and solid deposits formed in the tailpipe of diesel engines. In order to better understand and predict wetting phenomena on the tailpipe wall, this study focuses on droplet spreading dynamics of urea water solution. Impingement of single droplets is investigated under defined conditions by high‐speed imaging using shadowgraphy technique. The experimental studies are complemented by numerical simulations with a phase‐field method. Computational results are in good agreement with experimental data for the advancing phase of spreading and the maximum and terminal spreading radius, whereas for the receding phase notable differences occur. For the maximum spreading radius, an empirical correlation derived for glycerol‐water‐ethanol mixtures is found to be valid for millimeter‐sized UWS droplets as well. A numerical simulation for a much smaller droplet however indicates that this correlation is not valid for the tiny droplets of UWS sprays in technical applications.     

太阳能加热液滴在亲疏水表面"黏-滑"蒸发

实验研究了亲水和疏水表面上太阳能加热去离子水及金纳米流体液滴三相接触线动力学。在亲水和疏水表面滴加2μL去离子水和纳米流体液滴,用一定功率太阳能模拟器照射液滴使其蒸发,期间采用高速摄像机实时记录液滴在不同表面上的蒸发过程。由MATLAB程序处理图像得到液滴在不同表面上蒸发过程中接触角和接触圆直径的动态变化过程。发现液滴接触线在不同亲疏水表面上存在不同运动特性。去离子水液滴在亲水表面上常接触面积模式和常接触角模式依次控制蒸发过程。去离子水液滴在疏水表面上都呈现出“黏-滑”蒸发特性,即液滴先以常接触面积模式蒸发,之后接触线快速滑动,接触线固定后再以常接触面积模式蒸发,依次往复。纳米流体液滴在亲水表面上主要以常接触面积蒸发模式为主,在疏水表面上同样呈现“黏-滑”蒸发特性。从液滴表面能角度出发,对液滴接触线“钉扎”和“去钉扎”过程进行详尽分析,得出基底润湿性和纳米颗粒沉积是影响液滴接触线在表面上运动的重要因素。     

An Experimental Method for Three-Dimensional Dynamic Contact Angle Analysis

Abstract

Droplet dynamics analysis concerns the measurements of droplet volume, cap and base areas and contact angles, as they change in time to study evaporation, wettability, adhesion and other surface phenomena and properties. In a typical procedure, the two-dimensional measurements are based on a series of images recorded at successive stages of the experiment from a single view. Only a few basic dimensions of sessile droplets are commonly measured from such images, while many other quantities of interest are derived utilizing geometrical relationships. The reliability of these calculations is limited by the necessary assumption that the droplet shape can be approximated as a spherical cap. In reality, the sessile droplet shapes are influenced by gravity, liquid surface tension, local surface anisotropy and microstructure, which often produce non-spherical cap shapes.

This paper describes an experimental methodology for determination of key parameters, such as volume and contact angle for dynamic sessile droplets that can be approximated either by spherical or ellipsoidal cap geometries. In this method, images collected simultaneously from three cameras positioned orthogonally to each other are used to record the dynamic behavior of non-spherical droplets. Droplet shape is approximated as an ellipsoid of arbitrary orientation with respect to the cameras, which allows determination of volume and contact angle along the base perimeter. A major advantage of this method is that the dynamic parameters of droplets on anisotropic surfaces can be determined even when the orientation of the axes changes throughout the droplet lifetime. The method is illustrated with experimental results for a spherical and an ellipsoidal droplet.     

On the interpretation of contact angle hysteresis

The determination of solid surface free energy is still an open problem. The method proposed by van Oss and coworkers gives scattered values for apolar Lifshitz-van der Waals and polar (Lewis acid-base) electron-donor and electron-acceptor components for the investigated solid. The values of the components depend on the kind of three probe liquids used for their determination. In this paper a new alternative approach employing contact angle hysteresis is offered. It is based on three measurable parameters: advancing and receding contact angles (hysteresis of the contact angle) and the liquid surface tension. The equation obtained allows calculation of total surface free energy for the investigated solid. The equation is tested using some literature values, as well as advancing and receding contact angles measured for six probe liquids on microscope glass slides and poly(methyl methacrylate) PMMA, plates. It was found that for the tested solids thus calculated total surface free energy depended, to some extent, on the liquid used. Also, the surface free energy components of these solids determined by van Oss and coworkers' method and then the total surface free energy calculated from them varied depending on for which liquid-set the advancing contact angles were used for the calculations. However, the average values of the surface free energy, both for glass and PMMA, determined from these two approaches were in an excellent agreement. Therefore, it was concluded that using other condensed phase (liquid), thus determined value of solid surface free energy is an apparent one, because it seemingly depends not only on the kind but also on the strength of interactions operating across the solid/liquid interface, which are different for different liquids.     

Interpretation of contact angle hysteresis

Hysteresis of the contact angle, i.e. the difference between the advancing and receding contact angles, is discussed in terms of the liquid film presence behind the drop when it has receded. It is shown that values of receding contact angles in many systems result from a well-defined free energy balance in the solid/liquid drop system. If a duplex film is present behind the drop, experimental receding contact angles up to 15° may be considered as lying in the range of the experimental error. In the case of low-energy solids (e.g. Teflon), it is possible to determine graphically the minimum value of the surface tension below which a liquid will leave a duplex film behind the drop when receding.