Joint Experimental and Theoretical Study on Deposition Morphologies in Polymer Sessile Droplets
By
Song, TT (Song, Tiantian) [1] ; Jiang, ZC (Jiang, Zechao) [2] ; Man, XK (Man, Xingkun) [2] , [3] ; Shi, WC (Shi, Weichao) [1] , [4]
(provided by Clarivate)
LANGMUIR
Volume
40Issue
1Page
860-870
DOI
10.1021/acs.langmuir.3c03038
Published
DEC 18 2023
Indexed
2024-01-14
Document Type
Article
Jump to
Abstract
Although past experimental and theoretical research has made substantial progress in understanding evaporation behaviors in various suspensions, the fundamental mechanism for polymer sessile droplets is still lacking. One critical effect is the molecular weight on the evaporation behaviors. Here, systematic experiments are carried out to investigate the evaporation behavior of polymer droplets under the effects of polymer concentration, evaporation rate, and especially molecular weight. We obtain polymer films with various morphologies with molecular weights ranging from 2 orders of magnitude to 4 orders of magnitude and polymer concentration across 4 orders of magnitude. We further develop a theoretical model based on the Onsager principle to explain the evaporation mechanism from a dynamic perspective. Analysis indicates that increasing molecular weight or polymer concentration enhances the contact angle hysteresis and slows down the evaporation, resulting in the transition from multiring to coffee ring and eventually to uniform films. The findings offer a guideline for achieving the desired deposition patterns via droplet processing techniques.