No Arabic abstract
Solid particles floating at a liquid interface exhibit a long-ranged attraction mediated by surface tension. In the absence of bulk elasticity, this is the dominant lateral interaction of mechanical origin. Here we show that an analogous long-range interaction occurs between adjacent droplets on solid substrates, which crucially relies on a combination of capillarity and bulk elasticity. We experimentally observe the interaction between droplets on soft gels and provide a theoretical framework that quantitatively predicts the migration velocity of the droplets. Remarkably, we find that while on thick substrates the interaction is purely attractive and leads to drop-drop coalescence, for relatively thin substrates a short-range repulsion occurs which prevents the two drops from coming into direct contact. This versatile, new interaction is the liquid-on-solid analogue of the Cheerios effect. The effect will strongly influence the condensation and coarsening of drop soft polymer films, and has potential implications for colloidal assembly and in mechanobiology.
Drop impact causes severe surface erosion, dictating many important natural, environmental and engineering processes and calling for tremendous prevention and preservation efforts. Nevertheless, despite extensive studies on various kinematic features of impacting drops over the last two decades, the dynamic process that leads to the drop-impact erosion is still far from clear. Here, we develop a method of high-speed stress microscopy, which measures the key dynamic properties of drop impact responsible for erosion, i.e., the shear stress and pressure distributions of impacting drops, with unprecedented spatiotemporal resolutions. Our experiments reveal the fast propagation of self-similar noncentral stress maxima underneath impacting drops and quantify the shear force on impacted substrates. Moreover, we examine the deformation of elastic substrates under impact and uncover impact-induced surface shock waves. Our study opens the door for quantitative measurements of the impact stress of liquid drops and sheds light on the mysterious origin of drop-impact erosion.
We present systematic wetting experiments and numerical simulations of gravity driven liquid drops sliding on a plane substrate decorated with a linear chemical step. Surprisingly, the optimal direction to observe crossing is not the one perpendicular to the step, but a finite angle that depends on the material parameters. We computed the landscapes of the force acting on the drop by means of a contact line mobility model showing that contact angle hysteresis dominates the dynamics at the step and determines whether the drop passes onto the lower substrate. This analysis is very well supported by the experimental dynamic phase diagram in terms of pinning, crossing, sliding and sliding followed by pinning.
A previously unreported regime of type III intermittency is observed in a vertically vibrated milliliter-sized liquid drop submerged in a more viscous and less dense immiscible fluid layer supported by a hydrophobic solid plate. As the vibration amplitude is gradually increased, subharmonic Faraday waves are excited at the upper surface of the drop. We find a narrow window of vibration amplitudes slightly above the Faraday threshold, where the drop exhibits an irregular sequence of large amplitude bursting events alternating with intervals of low amplitude activity. The triggering physical mechanism is linked to the competition between surface Faraday waves and the shape deformation mode of the drop.
Geometric confinements are frequently encountered in the biological world and strongly affect the stability, topology, and transport properties of active suspensions in viscous flow. Based on a far-field analytical model, the low-Reynolds-number locomotion of a self-propelled microswimmer moving inside a clean viscous drop or a drop covered with a homogeneously distributed surfactant, is theoretically examined. The interfacial viscous stresses induced by the surfactant are described by the well-established Boussinesq-Scriven constitutive rheological model. Moreover, the active agent is represented by a force dipole and the resulting fluid-mediated hydrodynamic couplings between the swimmer and the confining drop are investigated. We find that the presence of the surfactant significantly alters the dynamics of the encapsulated swimmer by enhancing its reorientation. Exact solutions for the velocity images for the Stokeslet and dipolar flow singularities inside the drop are introduced and expressed in terms of infinite series of harmonic components. Our results offer useful insights into guiding principles for the control of confined active matter systems and support the objective of utilizing synthetic microswimmers to drive drops for targeted drug delivery applications.
We present and analyze a minimal hydrodynamic model of a vertically vibrated liquid drop that undergoes dynamic shape transformations. In agreement with experiments, a circular lens-shaped drop is unstable above a critical vibration amplitude, spontaneously elongating in horizontal direction. Smaller drops elongate into localized states that oscillate with half of the vibration frequency. Larger drops evolve by transforming into a snake-like structure with gradually increasing length. The worm state is long-lasting with a potential to fragmentat into smaller drops.