Evaporation induced two-dimensional buckling within liquid droplet

Authors

Ziguang Chen, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Maozi Liu, Agilent Technologies Inc., Santa Clara, CA
Gang-yu Liu, University of California, Davis
Li Tan, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Date of this Version

2009

Comments

Published in APPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS 95, 223104 (2009); doi:10.1063/1.3269930 Copyright © 2009 American Institute of Physics. Used by permission.

Abstract

Evaporation of a liquid droplet containing a thin layer of surfactants atop could generate two-dimensional buckling on surfaces. Herringbone features were produced via embedded nanoparticle beds. We assign transient surface tension as the driving force for such a phenomenon. Considering the surfactant layer as a thin elastic film, a continuum model is employed to calculate the mechanical properties of the layer. Particularly, we estimated an elastic modulus of 4 GPa for the surfactant layer, indicating rather strong mechanical properties of these small molecules when they are close packed to form supramolecules via noncovalent binding.