Abstract
The spreading of a pure, volatile liquid on a wettable substrate has been studied in extensive detail. Here we show that the addition of a miscible, nonvolatile liquid can strongly alter the contact line dynamics and the final liquid deposition pattern. We observe two distinct regimes of behavior depending on the relative strength of solutal Marangoni forces and surface wetting. Fingerlike instabilities precede the deposition of a submicron thick film for large Marangoni forces and small solute contact angles, whereas isolated pearl-like drops emerge and are deposited in quasicrystalline patterns for small Marangoni forces and large solute contact angles. This behavior can be tuned by directly varying the contact angle of the solute liquid on the solid substrate.
- Received 22 May 2019
- Revised 27 August 2019
- Accepted 2 January 2020
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.124.064502
© 2020 American Physical Society
Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)
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Video—Stretching Fingers on a Puddle’s Edge
Published 14 February 2020
A spreading drop containing a mixture of two liquids breaks into fingers or spherical droplets, depending on the fluids.
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