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Droplets on liquids and their journey into equilibrium

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Abstract

The morphological path of droplets on a liquid substrate towards equilibrium is investigated experimentally and theoretically. The droplets emerge in the late stage of a dewetting process of short chained polystyrene (PS) dewetting from liquid polymethyl-methacrylate (PMMA). The three-dimensional droplet profiles are obtained experimentally by combining the in situ imaged PS/air interface during equilibration and the ex situ imaged PS/PMMA interface after removal of the PS by a selective solvent. Numerically the transient drop shapes are calculated by solving the thin-film equation in lubrication approximation using the experimentally determined input parameter like viscosity, film thickness and surface tensions. The numerically obtained droplet morphologies and time scales agree very well with the experimental drop shapes. An unexpected observation is that droplets with identical volumes synchronise their motion and become independent of the initial geometry long time before equilibrium is reached.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Experimental Physics, Saarland University, D-66123, Saarbrücken, Germany

    Stefan Bommer, Florian Cartellier & Ralf Seemann

  2. Weierstrass Institute, Mohrenstr. 39, D-10117, Berlin, Germany

    Sebastian Jachalski, Dirk Peschka & Barbara Wagner

  3. Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, D-37073, Göttingen, Germany

    Ralf Seemann

  4. Institute of Mathematics, Technische Universität Berlin, Straße des 17. Juni 136, D-10623, Berlin, Germany

    Barbara Wagner

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  1. Stefan Bommer
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  2. Florian Cartellier
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  4. Dirk Peschka
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Bommer, S., Cartellier, F., Jachalski, S. et al. Droplets on liquids and their journey into equilibrium. Eur. Phys. J. E 36, 87 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/i2013-13087-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/i2013-13087-x

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