Dynamic Behavior of the Water Droplet Impact on a Textured Hydrophobic/Superhydrophobic Surface: The Effect of the Remaining Liquid Film Arising on the Pillars' Tops on the Contact Time

Abstract

We have fabricated a series of textured silicon surfaces decorated by square arrays of pillars whose radius and pitch can be adjusted independently. These surfaces possessed a hydrophobic/superhydrophobic property after silanization. The dynamic behavior of water droplets impacting these structured surfaces was examined using a high-speed camera. Experimental results validated that the remaining liquid film on the pillars' tops gave rise to a wet surface instead of a dry surface as the water droplet began to recede away from the textured surfaces. Also, experimental results demonstrated that the difference in the contact time was subjected to the solid fraction referred to as the ratio of the actual area contacting with the liquid to its projected area on the textured surface. Because the mechanism by which the residual liquid film emerges on the pillars' tops can essentially be ascribed to the pinch-off of the liquid threads, we further addressed the changes in the contact time in terms of the characteristic time of pinch-off of an imaginary liquid cylinder whose radius is related to the solid fraction and the maximum contact area. The match of the theoretical analysis and the experimental results substantiates the assumption aforementioned.