Dynamics of the spontaneous breakdown of superhydrophobicity

Abstract

Drops deposited on rough and hydrophobic surfaces can stay suspended with gas pockets underneath the liquid, then showing very low hydrodynamic resistance. When this superhydrophobic state breaks down, the subsequent wetting process can show different dynamical properties. A suitable choice of the geometry can make the wetting front propagate in a stepwise manner leading to {\it square-shaped} wetted area: the front propagation is slow and the patterned surface fills by rows through a {\it zipping} mechanism. The multiple time scale scenario of this wetting process is experimentally characterized and compared to numerical simulations.

7 pages, 5 figures

References in corpus (4)

• Mesoscopic modeling of a two-phase flow in the presence of boundaries: the Contact Angle
• Modelling droplets on superhydrophobic surfaces: equilibrium states and transitions
• Spontaneous Breakdown of Superhydrophobicity
• Drop dynamics on chemically patterned surfaces

Cited by in corpus (4)

• Lattice Boltzmann simulations in microfluidics: probing the no-slip boundary condition in hydrophobic, rough, and surface nanobubble laden microchannels
• Simulations of slip flow on nanobubble-laden surfaces
• Impalement transitions in droplets impacting microstructured superhydrophobic surfaces
• Regimes of Wetting Transitions on Superhydrophobic Textures Conditioned by Energy of Receding Contact Lines