Thinning of drying latex films due to surfactant

Drying of thin colloidal films

When thin films of colloidal fluids are dried, a range of transitions are observed and the final film profile is found to depend on the processes that occur during the drying step. This article describes the drying process, initially concentrating on the various transitions. Particles are seen to initially consolidate at the edge of a drying droplet, the so-called coffee-ring effect. Flow is seen to be from the centre of the drop towards the edge and a front of close-packed particles passes horizontally across the film. Just behind the particle front the now solid film often displays cracks and finally the film is observed to de-wet. These various transitions are explained, with particular reference to the capillary pressure which forms in the solidified region of the film. The reasons for cracking in thin films is explored as well as various methods to minimize its effect. Methods to obtain stratified coatings through a single application are considered for a one-dimensional drying problem and this is then extended to two-dimensional films. Different evaporative models are described, including the physical reason for enhanced evaporation at the edge of droplets. The various scenarios when evaporation is found to be uniform across a drying film are then explained. Finally different experimental techniques for examining the drying step are mentioned and the article ends with suggested areas that warrant further study.

Kinetics of wetting and spreading by aqueous surfactant solutions

Interest in wetting dynamics processes has immensely increased during the past 10-15 years. In many industrial and medical applications, some strategies to control drop spreading on solid surfaces are being developed. One possibility is that a surfactant, a surface-active polymer, a polyelectrolyte or their mixture are added to a liquid (usually water). The main idea of the paper is to give an overview on some dynamic wetting and spreading phenomena in the presence of surfactants in the case of smooth or porous substrates, which can be either moderately or highly hydrophobic surfaces based on the literature data and the authors own investigations. Instability problems associated with spreading over dry or pre-wetted hydrophilic surfaces as well as over thin aqueous layers are briefly discussed. Toward a better understanding of the superspreading phenomenon, unusual wetting properties of trisiloxanes on hydrophobic surfaces are also discussed.