Contact Angle Hysteresis Phenomenon Research Articles

Static analysis and contact angle hysteresis study of bubbles in Chinese space station tank models under different gravity effects

In most space shuttle fuel tanks, a central column is used to secure the Propellant Management Devices. This study focuses on the distribution of fluids in such tanks. Microgravity experiments are conducted on the Chinese Space Station, and annular bubbles surrounding the central column have been observed for the first time. An in-depth study is carried out on the distribution and profile of these bubbles using perturbation methods and the Young–Laplace equation. Theoretical values for the gas–liquid interface morphology of annular bubbles under different gravity levels are obtained and compared with numerical simulation results, showing substantial agreement. The phenomenon of contact angle hysteresis of bubbles under gravity conditions was studied through simulation and theoretical analysis. Detailed analysis of the characteristics of contact angle hysteresis and corresponding drag resistance using the Wenzel model was carried out. Based on this, a numerical calculation program based on the shooting method was developed to obtain the morphology of the same bubble under different gravities. Furthermore, it was found that the theoretical maximum Bond number for circular bubbles suspended on the central column is 2, and it was observed that bubbles with equilibrium contact angles closer to 90° exhibit greater upward displacement of their centroids under varying gravity, providing theoretical support for bubble management in aerospace engineering.

Wetting and Contact-Angle Hysteresis: Density Asymmetry and van der Waals Force.

A droplet depositing on a solid substrate leads to the wetting phenomenon, such as dew on plant leaves. On an ideally smooth substrate, the classic Young's law has been employed to describe the wetting effect. However, no real substrate is ideally smooth at the microscale. Given this fact, we introduce a surface composition concept to scrutinize the wetting mechanism via considering the liquid-gas density asymmetry and the fluid-solid van der Waals interaction. The current concept enables one to comprehend counterintuitive phenomenon of contact-angle hysteresis on a smooth substrate and increase of contact angle with temperature as well as gas bubble wetting.

Simulation of droplet dynamics in an inclined channel considering contact angle hysteresis using the cascade lattice Boltzmann method

Modeling droplet dynamics on solid surfaces with rough or chemically heterogeneous walls is crucial in various industrial applications. In such cases, the downstream and upstream contact lines of the droplet usually move incongruously, leading to droplet deformation known as the contact angle hysteresis (CAH) phenomenon. In this work, we developed a cascaded multicomponent Shan–Chen lattice Boltzmann method to simulate droplet dynamics considering the CAH. Specifically, the Peng–Robinson equation of state is added to one component to improve the density ratio of the model. By modifying the fluid–fluid interaction force scheme, we achieve thermodynamic consistency and independent adjustment of the surface tension. We also implement the modeling of CAH by applying geometric wetting boundaries with a hysteresis window. Based on this model, we first simulated pinned droplets in inclined channels with different hysteresis windows. We obtain the critical tilt angle of the droplet at the onset of sliding, which agrees with the theoretical result. For sliding droplets in the inclined channel, our results reveal that a slight tilt angle is unfavorable for the upstream portion of the droplet sliding, while a large tilt angle is favorable for the entire droplet sliding. A small receding angle results in a large droplet deformation at the quasi-steady state. Finally, by periodically transitioning between different hysteresis windows, enabling exclusive sliding of the upstream contact line during the first half period and subsequent sliding of the downstream contact line during the second half period, we successfully observed the stick-slip phenomenon of the droplet.

Simulations of contact angle hysteresis effects in droplet sliding on inclined isothermal surfaces and droplet evaporating on heated horizontal surfaces by a lattice Boltzmann method with a variable solid-fluid interaction strength scheme

A variable solid-fluid interaction strength scheme compatible with the lattice Boltzmann method is introduced to investigate contact angle hysteresis phenomena numerically. This method is applied to study two problems: (i) droplet sliding on inclined isothermal plates and (ii) droplet evaporating on horizontal heated plates. It is demonstrated that this method is capable of reproducing the decrease in the receding contact angle and the increase in the advancing contact angle during droplet sliding on an inclined isothermal plate, and the constant contact line (CCL) and constant contact angle (CCA) evaporation periods during droplet evaporation on a horizontal heated plate. These simulated results are in agreement with previous experimental investigations.

Structure of the surface microrelief of a droplet evaporating from a rough substrate as a possible cause of contact angle hysteresis

Based on the refraction images of a droplet evaporating on a rough substrate, we simultaneously observed the dynamics of its surface microrelief, contact angle, and contact line deformations along the entire perimeter of the contact line. This has led us conclude that the microrelief structure is directly related to the phenomenon of contact angle hysteresis and the jump-like pattern of contact line deformation. We suggest a possible mechanism for the occurrence of contact angle hysteresis during droplet evaporation and derive the relations that specify the range of possible contact angles at known microrelief parameters.

Modelling and investigation of partial wetting surfaces for drop dynamics using lattice Boltzmann method

Partial wetting surfaces and its influence on the droplet movement of micro and nano scale being contemplated for many useful applications. The dynamics of the droplet usually analyzed with a multiphase lattice Boltzmann method (LBM). In this paper, the influence of partial wetting surface on the dynamics of droplet is systematically analyzed for various cases. Splitting of droplets due to chemical gradient of the surface is studied and analyses of splitting time for various widths of the strips for different Weber numbers are computed. With the proposed model one can tune the splitting volume and time by carefully choosing a strip width and droplet position. The droplet spreading on chemically heterogeneous surfaces shows that the spreading can be controlled not only by parameters of Weber number but also by tuning strip width ratio. The transportation of the droplet from hydrophobic surface to hydrophilic surface due to chemical gradient is simulated and analyzed using our hybrid thermodynamic-image processing technique. The results prove that with the progress of time the surface free energy decreases with increase in spreading area. Finally, the transportation of a droplet on microstructure gradient is demonstrated. The model explains the temporal behaviour of droplet during the spreading, recoiling and translation along with tracking of contact angle hysteresis phenomenon.

Visualization study on droplet dynamic characteristics in dropwise condensation on inclined super-hydrophobic tube

Steam condensation with non-condensable gas exists widely in petro-chemical, power plant and seawater desalination processes. Super-hydrophobic surfaces with high contact angle could be an promising condensing surface to promote DWC and enhance heat transfer. As pure steam condensing droplet completely occupies micro/nano-structures of super-hydrophobic surfaces, super-hydrophobic function becomes “invalid”. For stream-air mixture vapor, the non- condensable gas would occupy the micro/nano-structures instead of water. Droplets form Cassie or transition wetting mode, holding or partly holding super-hydrophobic feature. Inclination angle of the tube can influence the shape, size and dynamic characteristics of the condensing droplets, thus changing the heat transfer performance. Therefore, for getting deeply insights of the effect of the non-condensable gas on condensation heat transfer, it is necessary to study the condensing drops characteristics on super-hydrophobic tube for different inclined angles. According to dropwise condensation model, increasing contact angle hysteresis, departure droplet size, sweeping period would reduce the condensation heat transfer efficiency. In this paper, dropwise condensation is performed on super-hydrophobic copper tube, departure droplet size, sweeping period and the phenomenon of contact angle hysteresis are thoroughly studied and are compared with the case of hydrophobic surface or pure steam to explore the influence of inclined angle and surface wettability on droplet dynamics to achieve condensation heat transfer enhancement. The experimental result shows: (1) On the top of copper tube, for the condensation of steam with 10% non-condensable gas, the contact angle hysteresis on super-hydrophobic surface is smaller than that on hydrophobic surface. Compared with pure steam condensation on super-hydrophobic surface, the contact angle hysteresis of mixed steam is smaller because the non- condensable gas fills the micro/nano-structures. However, on the middle and bottom parts of the tube, the contact angle hysteresis on super-hydrophobic surface is greater than that on hydrophobic surface for the condensation of both pure steam and mixed steam. This phenomenon indicates that the contact angle hysteresis is determined by surface wettability instead of inclination angle. (2) The departure droplet size on super-hydrophobic surface increases with the inclination angle and the opposite trend is found on hydrophobic surface. With the increase of inclination angle, the support force provided by the tube would increase and change direction. So the wettability of the surface and departure droplet size would be changed. (3) The sweeping period of droplet on super-hydrophobic surface is longer because the micro/nano-structures increase the adhesion between the surface and the droplets. With the increase of the inclination angle, the sweeping period decreased slightly, shorter than the sweeping time when the tube is vertical. The sweeping period of vapor with non-condensable gas condensation is greater than that of pure steam. The presence of non-condensable gas increases thermal resistance, thus slowing down the drop growth rate and increasing the sweeping period. To sum up, on the top of copper tube, the contact angle hysteresis on super-hydrophobic surface is smaller than that on the hydrophobic surface. However, the totally opposite trend is found on the middle and bottom parts of the tube. The departure droplet size on super-hydrophobic surface increases with the inclination angle. The sweeping period of droplet on super-hydrophobic surface is longer. This work offers a new avenue to further enhance heat transfer of condensation with non-condensable gas.

Pore‐scale contact angle measurements of CO 2 –brine–glass beads system using micro‐focused X‐ray computed tomography

Conventional methods for measuring contact angle are usually applied on smooth surfaces. Methods concerning contact angle determinations performed directly on pore surfaces of porous media have rarely been reported. This work approaches the pore-scale measurement of local contact angle in a CO2–brine–glass beads system, using micro-focused X-ray computed tomography (micro-CT). Both drainage and imbibition experiments with 0.1 ml/min injection rate were conducted at 40°C and 8 MPa. The effectiveness of this pore-scale approach is confirmed by comparing the results with the results gathered from traditional sessile drop methodology. Observations indicate that the contact angle hysteresis phenomenon was not so obvious for intermediate-wet glass beads in the employed experimental setting. In real reservoir circumstances, the roughness and capillary variation caused significant deviations in contact angle distribution for both drainage and imbibition, even in rock cores consisting of a single-phase material.

Structure and property analysis for a fractal superhydrophobic surface model

Superhydrophobicity depends mainly on the microstructures of a surface. Although the superhydrophobic surfaces (SHS) have been fabricated, micro-mechanisms responsible for its contact angle hysteresis (CAH) and free energy barrier (FEB) still need to be deeply investigated. For this reason, we attempt to compare the superhydrophobicity of the different hierarchy for the SHS based on a three-dimensional (3-D) pillar model by a more practical thermodynamic method. Therefore, general relationships between the superhydrophobic property and the proposed surface microstructures are also established based on the CAH phenomena together with a transient equation for describing the relationships between advancing/receding CAs and the static apparent CAs. The simulation suggests that the superhydrophobicity of two-step/three-step surfaces is significantly/slightly improved in comparison with those of one-step/two-step surfaces respectively; therefore designing for a three-step surface is again unnecessary.

From Beetles in Nature to the Laboratory: Actuating Underwater Locomotion on Hydrophobic Surfaces.

The controlled wetting and dewetting of surfaces is a primary mechanism used by beetles in nature, such as the ladybird and the leaf beetle for underwater locomotion.1 Their adhesion to surfaces underwater is enabled through the attachment of bubbles trapped in their setae-covered legs. Locomotion, however, is performed by applying mechanical forces in order to move, attach, and detach the bubbles in a controlled manner. Under synthetic conditions, however, when a bubble is bound to a surface, it is nearly impossible to maneuver without the use of external stimuli. Thus, actuated wetting and dewetting of surfaces remain challenges. Here, electrowetting-on-dielectric (EWOD) is used for the manipulation of bubble-particle complexes on unpatterned surfaces. Bubbles nucleate on catalytic Janus disks adjacent to a hydrophobic surface. By changing the wettability of the surface through electrowetting, the bubbles show a variety of reactions, depending on the shape and periodicity of the electrical signal. Time-resolved (μs) imaging of bubble radial oscillations reveals possible mechanisms for the lateral mobility of bubbles on a surface under electrowetting: bubble instability is induced when electric pulses are carefully adjusted. This instability is used to control the surface-bound bubble locomotion and is described in terms of the change in surface energy. It is shown that a deterministic force applied normal can lead to a random walk of micrometer-sized bubbles by exploiting the phenomenon of contact angle hysteresis. Finally, bubble use in nature for underwater locomotion and the actuated bubble locomotion presented in this study are compared.

Lattice Boltzmann simulation of coalescence of multiple droplets on nonideal surfaces

The interaction dynamics of droplets on a solid surface is a fundamental problem that is important to a wide variety of industrial applications, such as inkjet printing. Most previous research has focused on a single droplet and little research has been reported on the dynamics of multiple-droplet interactions on surfaces. Recently, Zhou et al. [W. Zhou, D. Loney, A. G. Fedorov, F. L. Degertekin, and D. W. Rosen, Lattice Boltzmann simulations of multiple-droplet interaction dynamics, Phys. Rev. E 89, 033311 (2014)] reported an efficient numerical solver based on the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) that enabled the simulation of the multiple-droplet interaction dynamics on an ideal surface (i.e., smooth and homogeneous). In order to predict the interaction dynamics in the real world, it is necessary to take into consideration the contact angle hysteresis phenomenon on a nonideal surface, which is possibly caused by the surface roughness and chemical inhomogeneity of the surface. In this paper a dynamic contact angle boundary condition is developed to take into account the contact angle hysteresis effect based on the previously reported LBM. The improved LBM is validated with experimental data from the literature. The influence of the droplet impact conditions (e.g., fluid properties and impingement velocity), droplet spacing, and surface conditions on the two-droplet interaction dynamics is investigated with the validated LBM. Interesting phenomena are observed and discussed. The interaction of a line of six droplets on a nonideal surface is simulated to demonstrate the powerful capability of the developed numerical solver in simulating the multiple-droplet interaction dynamics in the real world.

Relationship between Dispersive Surface Tension and Density and Molecular Weight of Solvents and Polymers

The surface and interfacial properties of polymers are important for their applications. Generally, the surface property is quantitatively characterized by the surface tension or surface tension component parameters, which are obtained with the contact angle technique. However, the contact angle technique has an inherent problem, contact angle hysteresis phenomenon, which will result in many incredible surface tension data. In order to find a simple and easy method to estimate the rationality of a surface tension result, the relationship between dispersive surface tension component and density and molecular weight is researched in this work. It is found that for 30 organic solvents, there is a good relationship between the dispersive surface tension rd and the parameter . In addition, for 12 polymers, when the molecular weight is replaced with the molecular weight of the repeat unit, there is still the same relationship as for small liquids. However, because it is difficult to judge the accuracy of the published dispersive data of the polymers, the found experiential relationship needs further confirmation, requiring more reliable published data.

Surface Wettability of (3-Aminopropyl)triethoxysilane Self-Assembled Monolayers

The (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane (APTES) self-assembled monolayer (SAM) has been widely used in fundamental research and engineering applications; however, characterization of its surface wetting properties remains problematic. Surface wetting properties of the APTES SAM were systematically investigated using different contact angle measurement techniques. The observed unique nonideal wetting was related to the APTES SAM structure, including surface hydrogen bond formation, the surface roughness, and the effect of water penetration. The contact angle decreased dramatically with the residence time on the APTES SAM surface, and a special contact angle hysteresis phenomenon was observed. The contact angle could be distorted by the calculation method used for the nonideal APTES SAM surface. Values calculated by the tangent-leaning method were thought to be more accurate and credible. Our findings demonstrated that static advancing contact angles were the most stable and credible for characterizing the APTES SAM surface wettability.

Material Theories

Physical Sciences and, in particular, Mechanics, have always played an important role as a source of inspiration for Mathematics. They have suggested fundamental problems, and stimulated the development of new techniques and tools. Now it is a particularly exciting time for the interaction of Mathematics and Mechanics: experimental developments in Mechanics and Biophysics at nano scales are posing challenging questions and giving new opportunities to Mathematics. This became very clear at this meeting. A broad spectrum of problems from such diverse fields of applications as biology and biophysics, mechanics of nanostructures, and crystal plasticity was presented. From theoretical physics, recent concepts and paradigms such as self-organized criticality, and non equilibrium statistical mechanics as applied to living systems were discussed. Stochastic processes, calculus of variations, and pde's, up to the theory of Boltzmann equation are the mathematical foundations of the recent results presented at the workshop. A new topic of attention with respect to the glorious tradition of this conference series was the attempt to establish the foundations of engineering theories at the mesoscopic scales from ab-initio calculations (quantum mechanics). An important aspect of the meeting was also the contribution from experimentalists, from wetting and contact angle hysteresis phenomena, to intermittency in plasticity, to electronic transport in semiconductors. The success of the workshop was mostly due to the strong interaction among participants, bridging different fields of expertise, particularly in the discussion on classical fields such as dislocation mechanics, plasticity, kinetic theory and even buckling phenomena in structural mechanics. We have witnessed that several participants were coming out of the meeting with new ideas and new research projects to pursue. Many expressed their appreciation for the open-minded spirit with which problems were presented, and for the constructive spirit of the discussions. The atmosphere at the Institute certainly contributed in a decisive way to the success of the Workshop.

The rigorous derivation of Young, Cassie–Baxter and Wenzel equations and the analysis of the contact angle hysteresis phenomenon

The rigorous derivation of Young, Cassie–Baxter and Wenzel equations carried out in the framework of the unified thermodynamic approach is presented. Wetting of rough surfaces controlled with external stimuli is treated. Areas of validity of Cassie–Baxter and Wenzel approaches are discussed. General properties of the contact angle hysteresis are investigated on the same thermodynamic basis.

Effect of Contact Angle Hysteresis on the Measurement of Capillary Forces

We conduct experimental investigations of macroscopic capillary forces between two flat rigid substrates characterized by their advancing and receding contact angles with water. Our results exhibit excellent agreement with theoretical predictions obtained by the numerical solution of the capillary equation. On the basis of this comparison, we use the measurements of the capillary force to investigate the phenomenon of contact angle hysteresis. We present examples of force measurements for surfaces that display low, moderate, and high contact angle hysteresis and compare results for a larger variety of substrates. Finally, we show that for the case of water, the role of viscosity is insignificant within the range of force and velocity measured in the present work.

Capillary Drops: Contact angle hysteresis and sticking drops

This paper is concerned with the homogenization of a capillary equation for liquid drops lying on an inhomogeneous solid plane. We show in particular that the homogenization of the Young–Laplace law leads to a contact angle condition of the form $$\cos \gamma \in [\beta_{1},\beta_{2}]$$ , which justifies the so-called contact angle hysteresis phenomenon.

A thermodynamic approach for determining the contact angle hysteresis for superhydrophobic surfaces

Contact angle hysteresis (CAH) is critical to superhydrophobicity of a surface. This study proposes a free energy thermodynamic analysis (of a 2-D model surface) that significantly simplifies calculations of free energy barrier associated with CAH phenomena. A microtextured surface with pillar structure, typical of one used in experimental studies, is used as an example. We demonstrate that the predicted CAH and equilibrium contact angles are consistent with experimental observations and predictions of Wenzel's and Cassie's equations, respectively. We also establish a criterion for transition between noncomposite and composite wetting states. The results and methodology presented can potentially be used for designing superhydrophobic surfaces.

Contact angle hysteresis: study by dynamic cycling contact angle measurements and variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry on polyimide.

The phenomenon of contact angle hysteresis was studied on smooth films of polyimide, a polymer type used in the microelectronic industry, by dynamic cycling contact angle measurements based on axisymmetric drop shape analysis-profile in combination with variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry (VASE). It was found that both advancing and receding contact angles became smaller with increasing the number of cycles and are, therefore, not a property of the dry solid alone. The changes of the wetting behavior during these dynamic cycling contact angle measurements are attributed mainly to swelling and/or liquid retention. To reveal the water-induced changes of the polymer film, the polyimide surface was studied before and after the contact with a water droplet by VASE. Both the experimental ellipsometric spectrum for Delta and that for Psi as well as the corresponding simulations show characteristic shifts due to the contact with water. The so-called effective medium approximation was applied to recover information about the thickness and effective optical constants of the polymer layer from the ellipsometrically measured values of Delta and Psi. On the basis of these results, the swelling and retention behavior of the polyimide films in contact with water droplets were discussed.

Contact angle hysteresis on nano-structured surfaces

We present results from an experimental study on the phenomenon of contact angle hysteresis on solid surfaces decorated by a random array of nanometric hollows. For weak values of the areal density of defects φ d, the hysteresis H increases linearly with φ d. This evolution is described by a pinning–depinning process of the contact line by individual defects. At higher values of φ d, a collective pinning effect appears and H decreases with increasing φ d. In the linear regime, our experimental results are compared to theoretical predictions for contact angle hysteresis induced by a single isolated defect on the solid surface. We suggest that the crossover from the individual to the collective pinning effects could be interpreted in terms of an overlapping of wetting cross sections. Finally, we analyse the influence of both the size and the morphology (hollows/hillocks) of defects on the anchorage of the contact line.