Abstract
Droplet condensation on surfaces produces patterns, called breath figures. Their evolution into self-similar structures is a classical example of self-organization. It is described by a scaling theory with scaling functions whose universality has recently been challenged by numerical work. Here, we provide thorough experimental testing, where we inspect substrates with vastly different chemical properties, stiffness, and condensation rates. We critically survey the size distributions and the related time-asymptotic scaling of droplet number and surface coverage. In the time-asymptotic regime, they admit a data collapse: the data for all substrates and condensation rates lie on universal scaling functions.Received 3 September 2020Accepted 24 January 2022DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.4.L012019Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.Published by the American Physical SocietyPhysics Subject Headings (PhySH)Research AreasEmergence of patternsNucleationPhase transitionsPhysical SystemsDrops & bubblesNonequilibrium systemsPolydisperse materialsTechniquesFractal dimension characterizationPattern formationScaling methodsStatistical PhysicsPolymers & Soft Matter
Highlights
Droplet condensation on surfaces produces patterns, called breath figures
We present a series of experiments and simulations where a time-constant uniform water vapour flux condenses on rigid cold surfaces
The emerging droplets patterns undergo four stages on their way to organize into a self-similar arrangement whose number densities feature nonequilibrium scaling: (i) a first wave of nucleation of droplets, (ii) uniform growth of roughly spaced and monodisperse droplets, (iii) early coalescence, releasing surface area formerly occupied by the first generation of droplets, and (iv) re-population of the gaps between droplets and emergence of a self-similar droplet pattern
Summary
Droplet condensation on surfaces produces patterns, called breath figures. Their evolution into self-similar structures is a classical example of self-organization. We critically survey the size distributions and the related time-asymptotic scaling of droplet number and surface coverage.
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