Long-scale evolution of thin liquid films
TL;DR: In this article, a unified mathematical theory is presented that takes advantage of the disparity of the length scales and is based on the asymptotic procedure of reduction of the full set of governing equations and boundary conditions to a simplified, highly nonlinear, evolution equation or to a set of equations.
Abstract: Macroscopic thin liquid films are entities that are important in biophysics, physics, and engineering, as well as in natural settings. They can be composed of common liquids such as water or oil, rheologically complex materials such as polymers solutions or melts, or complex mixtures of phases or components. When the films are subjected to the action of various mechanical, thermal, or structural factors, they display interesting dynamic phenomena such as wave propagation, wave steepening, and development of chaotic responses. Such films can display rupture phenomena creating holes, spreading of fronts, and the development of fingers. In this review a unified mathematical theory is presented that takes advantage of the disparity of the length scales and is based on the asymptotic procedure of reduction of the full set of governing equations and boundary conditions to a simplified, highly nonlinear, evolution equation or to a set of equations. As a result of this long-wave theory, a mathematical system is obtained that does not have the mathematical complexity of the original free-boundary problem but does preserve many of the important features of its physics. The basics of the long-wave theory are explained. If, in addition, the Reynolds number of the flow is not too large, the analogy with Reynolds's theory of lubrication can be drawn. A general nonlinear evolution equation or equations are then derived and various particular cases are considered. Each case contains a discussion of the linear stability properties of the base-state solutions and of the nonlinear spatiotemporal evolution of the interface (and other scalar variables, such as temperature or solute concentration). The cases reducing to a single highly nonlinear evolution equation are first examined. These include: (a) films with constant interfacial shear stress and constant surface tension, (b) films with constant surface tension and gravity only, (c) films with van der Waals (long-range molecular) forces and constant surface tension only, (d) films with thermocapillarity, surface tension, and body force only, (e) films with temperature-dependent physical properties, (f) evaporating/condensing films, (g) films on a thick substrate, (h) films on a horizontal cylinder, and (i) films on a rotating disc. The dynamics of the films with a spatial dependence of the base-state solution are then studied. These include the examples of nonuniform temperature or heat flux at liquid-solid boundaries. Problems which reduce to a set of nonlinear evolution equations are considered next. Those include (a) the dynamics of free liquid films, (b) bounded films with interfacial viscosity, and (c) dynamics of soluble and insoluble surfactants in bounded and free films. The spreading of drops on a solid surface and moving contact lines, including effects of heat and mass transport and van der Waals attractions, are then addressed. Several related topics such as falling films and sheets and Hele-Shaw flows are also briefly discussed. The results discussed give motivation for the development of careful experiments which can be used to test the theories and exhibit new phenomena.
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TL;DR: This review summarizes theoretical progress in the field of active matter, placing it in the context of recent experiments, and highlights the experimental relevance of various semimicroscopic derivations of the continuum theory for describing bacterial swarms and suspensions, the cytoskeleton of living cells, and vibrated granular material.
Abstract: This review summarizes theoretical progress in the field of active matter, placing it in the context of recent experiments. This approach offers a unified framework for the mechanical and statistical properties of living matter: biofilaments and molecular motors in vitro or in vivo, collections of motile microorganisms, animal flocks, and chemical or mechanical imitations. A major goal of this review is to integrate several approaches proposed in the literature, from semimicroscopic to phenomenological. In particular, first considered are ``dry'' systems, defined as those where momentum is not conserved due to friction with a substrate or an embedding porous medium. The differences and similarities between two types of orientationally ordered states, the nematic and the polar, are clarified. Next, the active hydrodynamics of suspensions or ``wet'' systems is discussed and the relation with and difference from the dry case, as well as various large-scale instabilities of these nonequilibrium states of matter, are highlighted. Further highlighted are various large-scale instabilities of these nonequilibrium states of matter. Various semimicroscopic derivations of the continuum theory are discussed and connected, highlighting the unifying and generic nature of the continuum model. Throughout the review, the experimental relevance of these theories for describing bacterial swarms and suspensions, the cytoskeleton of living cells, and vibrated granular material is discussed. Promising extensions toward greater realism in specific contexts from cell biology to animal behavior are suggested, and remarks are given on some exotic active-matter analogs. Last, the outlook for a quantitative understanding of active matter, through the interplay of detailed theory with controlled experiments on simplified systems, with living or artificial constituents, is summarized.
3,314 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the surface forces that lead to wetting are considered, and the equilibrium surface coverage of a substrate in contact with a drop of liquid is examined, while the hydrodynamics of both wetting and dewetting is influenced by the presence of the three-phase contact line separating "wet" regions from those that are either dry or covered by a microscopic film.
Abstract: Wetting phenomena are ubiquitous in nature and technology. A solid substrate exposed to the environment is almost invariably covered by a layer of fluid material. In this review, the surface forces that lead to wetting are considered, and the equilibrium surface coverage of a substrate in contact with a drop of liquid. Depending on the nature of the surface forces involved, different scenarios for wetting phase transitions are possible; recent progress allows us to relate the critical exponents directly to the nature of the surface forces which lead to the different wetting scenarios. Thermal fluctuation effects, which can be greatly enhanced for wetting of geometrically or chemically structured substrates, and are much stronger in colloidal suspensions, modify the adsorption singularities. Macroscopic descriptions and microscopic theories have been developed to understand and predict wetting behavior relevant to microfluidics and nanofluidics applications. Then the dynamics of wetting is examined. A drop, placed on a substrate which it wets, spreads out to form a film. Conversely, a nonwetted substrate previously covered by a film dewets upon an appropriate change of system parameters. The hydrodynamics of both wetting and dewetting is influenced by the presence of the three-phase contact line separating "wet" regions from those that are either dry or covered by a microscopic film only. Recent theoretical, experimental, and numerical progress in the description of moving contact line dynamics are reviewed, and its relation to the thermodynamics of wetting is explored. In addition, recent progress on rough surfaces is surveyed. The anchoring of contact lines and contact angle hysteresis are explored resulting from surface inhomogeneities. Further, new ways to mold wetting characteristics according to technological constraints are discussed, for example, the use of patterned surfaces, surfactants, or complex fluids.
2,501 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors compare the various approaches used to derive the basic electrowetting equation, which has been shown to be very reliable as long as the applied voltage is not too high.
Abstract: Electrowetting has become one of the most widely used tools for manipulating tiny amounts of liquids on surfaces. Applications range from 'lab-on-a-chip' devices to adjustable lenses and new kinds of electronic displays. In the present article, we review the recent progress in this rapidly growing field including both fundamental and applied aspects. We compare the various approaches used to derive the basic electrowetting equation, which has been shown to be very reliable as long as the applied voltage is not too high. We discuss in detail the origin of the electrostatic forces that induce both contact angle reduction and the motion of entire droplets. We examine the limitations of the electrowetting equation and present a variety of recent extensions to the theory that account for distortions of the liquid surface due to local electric fields, for the finite penetration depth of electric fields into the liquid, as well as for finite conductivity effects in the presence of AC voltage. The most prominent failure of the electrowetting equation, namely the saturation of the contact angle at high voltage, is discussed in a separate section. Recent work in this direction indicates that a variety of distinct physical effects?rather than a unique one?are responsible for the saturation phenomenon, depending on experimental details. In the presence of suitable electrode patterns or topographic structures on the substrate surface, variations of the contact angle can give rise not only to continuous changes of the droplet shape, but also to discontinuous morphological transitions between distinct liquid morphologies. The dynamics of electrowetting are discussed briefly. Finally, we give an overview of recent work aimed at commercial applications, in particular in the fields of adjustable lenses, display technology, fibre optics, and biotechnology-related microfluidic devices.
1,962 citations
Additional excerpts
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TL;DR: The dynamics and stability of thin liquid films have fascinated scientists over many decades: the observations of regular wave patterns in film flows along a windowpane or along guttering, the patterning of dewetting droplets, and the fingering of viscous flows down a slope are all examples that are familiar in daily life.
Abstract: The dynamics and stability of thin liquid films have fascinated scientists over many decades: the observations of regular wave patterns in film flows down a windowpane or along guttering, the patterning of dewetting droplets, and the fingering of viscous flows down a slope are all examples that are familiar in daily life. Thin film flows occur over a wide range of length scales and are central to numerous areas of engineering, geophysics, and biophysics; these include nanofluidics and microfluidics, coating flows, intensive processing, lava flows, dynamics of continental ice sheets, tear-film rupture, and surfactant replacement therapy. These flows have attracted considerable attention in the literature, which have resulted in many significant developments in experimental, analytical, and numerical research in this area. These include advances in understanding dewetting, thermocapillary- and surfactant-driven films, falling films and films flowing over structured, compliant, and rapidly rotating substrates, and evaporating films as well as those manipulated via use of electric fields to produce nanoscale patterns. These developments are reviewed in this paper and open problems and exciting research avenues in this thriving area of fluid mechanics are also highlighted.
1,226 citations
TL;DR: It is found that surfactant contamination, at a surface concentration as small as 300 molecules/microm(2), can almost entirely suppress the Marangoni flow in the evaporating droplet.
Abstract: We study the effects of Marangoni stresses on the flow in an evaporating sessile droplet, by extending a lubrication analysis and a finite element solution of the flow field in a drying droplet, developed earlier.1 The temperature distribution within the droplet is obtained from a solution of Laplace's equation, where quasi-steadiness and neglect of convection terms in the heat equation can be justified for small, slowly evaporating droplets. The evaporation flux and temperature profiles along the droplet surface are approximated by simple analytical forms and used as boundary conditions to obtain an axisymmetric analytical flow field from the lubrication theory for relatively flat droplets. A finite element algorithm is also developed to solve simultaneously the vapor concentration, and the thermal and flow fields in the droplet, which shows that the lubrication solution with the Marangoni stress is accurate for contact angles as high as 40°. From our analysis, we find that surfactant contamination, at a...
803 citations
References
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Book•
01 Jan 1985
TL;DR: The forces between atoms and molecules are discussed in detail in this article, including the van der Waals forces between surfaces, and the forces between particles and surfaces, as well as their interactions with other forces.
Abstract: The Forces between Atoms and Molecules. Principles and Concepts. Historical Perspective. Some Thermodynamic Aspects of Intermolecular Forces. Strong Intermolecular Forces: Covalent and Coulomb Interactions. Interactions Involving Polar Molecules. Interactions Involving the Polarization of Molecules. van der Waals Forces. Repulsive Forces, Total Intermolecular Pair Potentials, and Liquid Structure. Special Interactions. Hydrogen-Bonding, Hydrophobic, and Hydrophilic Interactions. The Forces between Particles and Surfaces. Some Unifying Concepts in Intermolecular and Interparticle Forces. Contrasts between Intermolecular, Interparticle, and Intersurface Forces. van der Waals Forces between Surfaces. Electrostatic Forces between Surfaces in Liquids. Solvation, Structural and Hydration Forces. Steric and Fluctuation Forces. Adhesion. Fluid-Like Structures and Self-Assembling Systems. Micelles, Bilayers, and Biological Membranes. Thermodynamic Principles of Self-Assembly. Aggregation of Amphiphilic Molecules into Micelles, Bilayers, Vesicles, and Biological Membranes. The Interactions between Lipid Bilayers and Biological Membranes. References. Index.
18,048 citations
Book•
01 Jan 1955
TL;DR: The flow laws of the actual flows at high Reynolds numbers differ considerably from those of the laminar flows treated in the preceding part, denoted as turbulence as discussed by the authors, and the actual flow is very different from that of the Poiseuille flow.
Abstract: The flow laws of the actual flows at high Reynolds numbers differ considerably from those of the laminar flows treated in the preceding part. These actual flows show a special characteristic, denoted as turbulence. The character of a turbulent flow is most easily understood the case of the pipe flow. Consider the flow through a straight pipe of circular cross section and with a smooth wall. For laminar flow each fluid particle moves with uniform velocity along a rectilinear path. Because of viscosity, the velocity of the particles near the wall is smaller than that of the particles at the center. i% order to maintain the motion, a pressure decrease is required which, for laminar flow, is proportional to the first power of the mean flow velocity. Actually, however, one ob~erves that, for larger Reynolds numbers, the pressure drop increases almost with the square of the velocity and is very much larger then that given by the Hagen Poiseuille law. One may conclude that the actual flow is very different from that of the Poiseuille flow.
17,321 citations
Book•
01 Jan 1974
TL;DR: In this paper, a general overview of the nonlinear theory of water wave dynamics is presented, including the Wave Equation, the Wave Hierarchies, and the Variational Method of Wave Dispersion.
Abstract: Introduction and General Outline. HYPERBOLIC WAVES. Waves and First Order Equations. Specific Problems. Burger's Equation. Hyperbolic Systems. Gas Dynamics. The Wave Equation. Shock Dynamics. The Propagation of Weak Shocks. Wave Hierarchies. DISPERSIVE WAVES. Linear Dispersive Waves. Wave Patterns. Water Waves. Nonlinear Dispersion and the Variational Method. Group Velocities, Instability, and Higher Order Dispersion. Applications of the Nonlinear Theory. Exact Solutions: Interacting Solitary Waves. References. Index.
8,808 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present an attempt towards a unified picture with special emphasis on certain features of "dry spreading": (a) the final state of a spreading droplet need not be a monomolecular film; (b) the spreading drop is surrounded by a precursor film, where most of the available free energy is spent; and (c) polymer melts may slip on the solid and belong to a separate dynamical class, conceptually related to the spreading of superfluids.
Abstract: The wetting of solids by liquids is connected to physical chemistry (wettability), to statistical physics (pinning of the contact line, wetting transitions, etc.), to long-range forces (van der Waals, double layers), and to fluid dynamics. The present review represents an attempt towards a unified picture with special emphasis on certain features of "dry spreading": (a) the final state of a spreading droplet need not be a monomolecular film; (b) the spreading drop is surrounded by a precursor film, where most of the available free energy is spent; and (c) polymer melts may slip on the solid and belong to a separate dynamical class, conceptually related to the spreading of superfluids.
6,042 citations