Drying Droplets in Confinement
Drying Droplets in Confinement
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We study the effects of confinement in an evaporating particle-laden droplet. This problem is closely related to the coffee-stain effect, and is surprisingly complicated, with many different phenomena occurring simultaneously. We find that, under the right conditions, these confined droplets dry to form intricate maze-like patterns.
Effect of confinement: A shows the maze-like pattern of the droplet dried in our confined cell, which is forms a substantially different pattern from droplet B, which is the same droplet left to dry on the same substrate, without confinement. Image courtesy of I. Beechey-Newman, N. Kizilova, A.A. Hennig, E.G. Flekkøy, & E. Eiser, Confined colloidal droplets dry to form circular mazes, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 122 (32) e2508363122, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2508363122 (2025).
Darkfield microscopy image of a droplet of a colloidal suspension, dried slowly in strong confinement. The colors in this image is purely structural.
Science and art in one project
Science and art in one project
The patterns we observe in our microscopes serve as an interesting research question to understand the interplay between hydrodynamic forces, colloid sedimentation and diffusion. In addition, they have served as art in our coffee room, and are also exhibited in a seminar room in Oxford. We find great joy in combining science and art, and you can find more of our best snapshots in our gallery.
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