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Some physics inside drying droplets

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Abstract

Droplets are of great scientific interest because studying their formation and dynamics is important in many technologies such as in microfluidics [1, 2]. Evaporation of droplets is another interesting aspect that has caught much scientific attention. An example of an evaporating droplet is a coffee droplet spilled on a table. After evaporation the coffee droplet leaves a ring-like stain called a coffee ring or coffee stain [3]. This phenomenon, known as the ‘coffee ring effect’, occurs not only with coffee droplets but also with all droplets containing non-volatile solutes. There are a number of interesting physical processes going on within the droplets during evaporation to form the ‘coffee stains’. In this article, we will see what they are.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. MESA+ Institute of Nanotechnology, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands

    Dileep Mampallil

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  1. Dileep Mampallil
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Correspondence to Dileep Mampallil.

Additional information

Dileep Mampallil is a postdoctoral researcher at University of Twente, The Netherlands. His research interests include micronanofluidics and nanoscale electrochemistry.

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Mampallil, D. Some physics inside drying droplets. Reson 19, 123–134 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12045-014-0016-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12045-014-0016-z

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