Abstract
The classical notion of the coalescence of two droplets of the same radius is that surface tension drives an initially singular flow. In this Letter we show, using molecular dynamics simulations of coalescing water nanodroplets, that after single or multiple bridges form due to the presence of thermal capillary waves, the bridge growth commences in a thermal regime. Here, the bridges expand linearly in time much faster than the viscous-capillary speed due to collective molecular jumps near the bridge fronts. Transition to the classical hydrodynamic regime only occurs once the bridge radius exceeds a thermal length scale .
- Received 24 May 2018
- Revised 11 September 2018
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.122.104501
Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.
Published by the American Physical Society
Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)
Synopsis
Two Nanodrops Zip Together to Form One
Published 13 March 2019
Simulations reveal that nanometer-scale droplets merge via a zipping-like action initiated by molecular-sized waves on their surfaces.
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