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DY: Fachverband Dynamik und Statistische Physik

DY 1: Wetting - organized by Stefan Karpitschka (Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, Göttingen) (joint session CPP/DY)

DY 1.11: Talk

Monday, March 22, 2021, 14:40–15:00, CPPb

Droplets fighting contamination — •Abhinav Naga, William Wong, Anke Kaltbeitzel, Maria D'Acunzi, Hans-Jürgen Butt, and Doris Vollmer — Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Mainz, Germany

Lubricated surfaces are prone to accumulating contaminants due to their sticky yet slippery nature. The presence of contaminants, such as dust and dirt particles, alters their performance. An understanding of the effect of contaminated particles on the friction of surfaces is important not only from a fundamental perspective whereby further insight can be gained of the underlying mechanisms, but also from an applied perspective to predict the effectiveness of lubricated surfaces in the presence of contaminants.

In this study, we systematically contaminate lubricated silicone surfaces (Sylgard 184) and non-lubricated surfaces with spherical glass microparticles. We place a droplet on each surface and measure the force needed to push the droplet at different speeds towards an individual microparticle. We visualise this process with laser scanning confocal microscopy, focusing on the deformation inflicted by the microparticle on the droplet and its lubricant ridge. We combine these visualisations with our force measurements to suggest a mechanism for the removal of contaminated particles from surfaces using droplets, and we outline the differences between the outcomes on the lubricated and the non-lubricated surfaces. This work will help to understand droplet dynamics on imperfect or dirty lubricated surfaces.