Formation of Deposition Patterns Induced by the Evaporation of the Restricted Liquid

Deposition patterns formed by the evaporation of linear diblock copolymer solution nanodroplets on solid surfaces

The evaporation-induced deposition pattern of the linear diblock copolymer solution has attracted attention in recent years. Given its critical applications, we study deposition patterns of the linear diblock copolymer solution nanodroplet on a solid surface (the wall) by molecular dynamics simulations. This study focuses on the influence of the nonbonded interaction strength, including the interaction between the wall and polymer blocks (ɛAW and ɛBW), the interaction between the solvent and the wall (ɛSW), and the interaction between polymer blocks (ɛAB). Conditions leading to diverse deposition patterns are explored, including the coffee-ring and the volcano-like structures. The formation of the coffee-ring structure is attributed to receding interfaces, the heterogeneity inside the droplet, and the self-assembly of polymer chains. This study contributes to the establishment of guidelines for designing deposition patterns of the linear diblock copolymer solution nanodroplet, which facilitates practical applications such as inkjet printing.

Numerical Analysis of the Dispersion and Deposition of Particles in Evaporating Sessile Droplets

Evaporating sessile droplets containing dispersed particles are used in different technological applications, such as 3D printing, biomedicine, and micromanufacturing, where an accurate prediction of both the dispersion and deposition of the particles is important. Furthermore, the interaction between the droplet and the substrate must be taken into account: the motion of the contact line, in particular, must be modeled carefully. To this end, studies have typically been limited to either pinned or moving contact lines to simplify the underlying mathematical models and numerical methods, neglecting the fact that both scenarios are observed during the evaporation process. Here, a numerical algorithm considering both contact line regimes is proposed whereby the regimes are distinguished by predefined threshold contact angles. After a detailed validation, this new algorithm is applied to study the influence of both regimes on the dispersion and deposition of particles in an evaporating sessile droplet. In particular, the presented analysis focuses on the influence of (i) the contact line motion characteristics by varying the limiting contact angle and spreading speed, (ii) the Marangoni number, characterizing the importance of thermocapillarity, (iii) the evaporation number, which quantifies the importance of evaporation, (iv) the Damköhler number, a measure of the particle deposition rate, and (v) the Peclet number, which compares the convection and diffusion of the particle concentration. When thermocapillarity becomes dominant or the limiting contact angle is larger, the particle accumulation near the contact line decreases, which, in turn, means that more particles are deposited near the center of the droplet. In contrast, increasing the evaporation number supports particle accumulation near the contact line, while a larger Damköhler number and/or smaller Peclet number yield more uniform final deposition patterns. Finally, a larger characteristic speed of spreading results in fewer particles being deposited at the center of the droplet.

Joint Experimental and Theoretical Study on Deposition Morphologies in Polymer Sessile Droplets

Although past experimental and theoretical research has made substantial progress in understanding evaporation behaviors in various suspensions, the fundamental mechanism for polymer sessile droplets is still lacking. One critical effect is the molecular weight on the evaporation behaviors. Here, systematic experiments are carried out to investigate the evaporation behavior of polymer droplets under the effects of polymer concentration, evaporation rate, and especially molecular weight. We obtain polymer films with various morphologies with molecular weights ranging from 2 orders of magnitude to 4 orders of magnitude and polymer concentration across 4 orders of magnitude. We further develop a theoretical model based on the Onsager principle to explain the evaporation mechanism from a dynamic perspective. Analysis indicates that increasing molecular weight or polymer concentration enhances the contact angle hysteresis and slows down the evaporation, resulting in the transition from multiring to coffee ring and eventually to uniform films. The findings offer a guideline for achieving the desired deposition patterns via droplet processing techniques.

Evaporation-induced fractal patterns: A bridge between uniform pattern and coffee ring

HYPOTHESIS

The rich variety of patterns induced by evaporating drops containing particles has significant guidance for coating processes, inkjet printing, and nanosemiconductors. However, most existing works construct a uniform pattern by suppressing the coffee ring effect, and establishing the connection between them is still an academic challenge.

EXPERIMENTS

We report uniform, polygonal, and coffee ring patterns obtained by adjusting the solute concentration that sets in when an ethanol drop with dissolved ibuprofen is deposited on a silicon wafer.

FINDINGS

Pattern formation involves rich hydrodynamic events: spreading, evaporative instability, dewetting, film formation, and particle deposition. Based on the distinct multiscale properties, this series of patterns is directly connected from the perspective of fractal geometry, which allows us to name them "fractal deposition patterns". A theoretical model considering film stability is established to explain the mechanism behind pattern formation, which is well verified by experiments. This work has presented a unique strategy that can directly connect uniform, polygonal, and coffee ring patterns under the same physics, hoping to provide instructive guidance for practical applications.

The control of dry-out patterns using bubble-containing droplets

HYPOTHESIS

For an evaporating nanofluid droplet that contains a bubble inside, we suspect the bubble boundary remains pinned during evaporation whereas the droplet perimeter recedes. Thus, the dry-out patterns are mainly determined by the presence of the bubble and their morphology can be tuned by the size and location of the added bubble.

EXPERIMENTS

Bubbles with varying base diameters and lifetimes are added into evaporating droplets that contain nanoparticles with different types, sizes, concentrations, shapes, and wettability. The geometric dimensions of the dry-out patterns are measured.

FINDINGS

For a droplet containing a long-lifetime bubble, a complete ring-like deposit forms, and its diameter and thickness increases and decreases with the bubble base diameter, respectively. The ring completeness, i.e., the ratio of actual ring length to its imaginary perimeter, decreases with the decrease in bubble lifetime. The pinning of droplet receding contact line by particles near the bubble perimeter has been found to be the key factor leading to ring-like deposits. This study introduces a strategy of producing ring-like deposit and allows a control of the ring morphology in a simple, cheap, and impurity-free fashion, which is applicable to various applications associated with evaporative self-assembly.

A scaling law of particle transport in inkjet-printed particle-laden polymeric drops

Hydrogels with embedded functional particulates are widely used to create soft materials with innovative functionalities. In order to advance these soft materials to functional devices and machines, critical technical challenges are the precise positioning of particulates within the hydrogels and the construction of the hydrogels into a complex geometry. Inkjet printing is a promising method for addressing these challenges and ultimately achieving hydrogels with voxelized functionalities, so-called digital hydrogels. However, the development of the inkjet printing process primarily relies on empirical optimization of its printing and curing protocol. In this study, a general scaling law is proposed to predict the transport of particulates within the hydrogel during inkjet printing. This scaling law is based on a hypothesis that water-matrix interaction during the curing of inkjet-printed particle-laden polymeric drops determines the intra-drop particle distribution. Based on the hypothesis, a dimensionless similarity parameter of the water-matrix interaction is proposed, determined by the hydrogel's water evaporation coefficient, particle size, and mechanical properties. The hypothesis was tested by correlating the intra-drop particle distribution to the similarity parameter. The results confirmed the scaling law capable of guiding ink formulation and printing and curing protocol.

Patterning of a Drying Emulsion Film

Stabilizing layers of colloidal dispersions or emulsions to obtain homogeneous films is a real challenge. We describe here a new kind of instability in drying films of emulsions: during evaporation of the internal phase, cracks appear between the droplets that create aggregates according to a regular pattern. We show that this pattern only appears if the emulsion is adhesive, i.e., if droplets stick together. The pattern exhibits a characteristic length which depends on the adhesion strength and film thickness. These experimental results support a model where this instability is due to the gel structure and elastic properties of adhesive emulsions. Understanding this phenomenon will allow us to get a homogeneous film or to control it to get structured materials.