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Contact-angle hysteresis on rough surfaces: mechanical energy balance framework

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 May 2024

Dalton J.E. Harvie*
Affiliation:
Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia
*
Email address for correspondence: daltonh@unimelb.edu.au

Abstract

Using as a starting point conservation of momentum, a multiphase mechanical energy balance equation is derived that accounts for multiple material phases and interfaces present within a moving control volume. This balance is applied to a control volume that is anchored to a three-phase contact line as it advances continuously over the surface of a rough and chemically homogeneous and inert solid. Using semi-quantitative models for the material behaviour occurring within the control volume, an order of magnitude analysis is performed to neglect insignificant terms, producing an equation for predicting contact-angle hysteresis from a knowledge of the interface dynamics occurring around the three-phase contact line. It is shown that the viscous energy dissipation that occurs during the ‘stick–slip’ motion of the three-phase contact line, being the cause of contact-angle hysteresis on rough surfaces, can be calculated from changes in intermediate equilibrium interface states. The balance is applied to the Wenzel, Cassie–Baxter and Fakir (super-hydrophobic) wetting states, showing for the Fakir case that significant dissipation occurs during both interface advance and recede, and relating these dissipations to interfacial area changes that occur around the ‘stick–slip’ events.

Information

Type
JFM Papers
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press.
Figure 0

Figure 1. The macroscopic mechanical energy balance is performed on a moving control volume that contains multiple immiscible phases bounded by multiple interface types. Each interface type has an associated unit normal vector $\boldsymbol {n}_{{S},ij}$ that is directed into phase $i$ (where $i< j$). The velocity and outward unit normal of the control volume boundary are ${\boldsymbol {v}}_{cv}$ and $\boldsymbol {n}_{cv}$, respectively. In the indicated configuration, four material phases are present within the control volume, and they intersect along four different interface types.

Figure 1

Figure 2. The MMEB is performed over a cylindrical CV that is located at the intersection of the average solid surface and projected fluid interface planes, and moves forward over the solid at a speed of ${v}_{cv}$ and distance ${X}_{cv}$. (a,b) The region surrounding the CV and contact line on a macroscopic scale. (c) The same region on the scale of the CV and solid surface roughness. The symbols ${\bigcirc{\kern-6pt 1}}$, ${\bigcirc{\kern-6pt 2}}$ and ${\bigcirc{\kern-9pt S}}$ indicate regions of phase-$1$ fluid, phase-$2$ fluid and solid, respectively.

Figure 2

Figure 3. The entire analysis time $\tau$ is split into a number $N$ of dissipation periods (indicated in blue) where a portion of the TPCL moves at velocities of ${{O}({v}_{cap})}$, interspersed between $N+1$ equilibrium stages where the entire TPCL moves at velocities of at most ${{O}({v}_{cv})}$.

Figure 3

Table 1. Equation summary for the contact-angle mechanical energy balance.

Figure 4

Figure 4. Schematics illustrating how the various interface areas change during the dissipation events occurring when a Fakir droplet/TPCL (a) advances or (b) recedes over a rough surface containing flat-topped poles. In each case, the fluid/fluid interface (${A}_{12}$) shape that immediately precedes the dissipation event is indicated in red, the fluid/fluid interface shape that immediately follows the dissipation event is indicated in blue, and the other green fluid/fluid interface shapes represent equilibrium stages where the interface is moving in a continuous manner. Note that the schematics are a two-dimensional representation of a three-dimensional process.

Figure 5

Table 2. Contact angles measured by Öner & McCarthy (2000, table 1) for water droplets exhibiting Fakir wetting on silane-modified hexagonally arrayed 40 $\mathrm {\mu }$m high square posts, as a function of equilibrium contact angle. The parameters shown are averages of data from poles of three different widths (having the highest aspect ratios), and the equilibrium contact angles (${\theta }_{e}$) were calculated from the average of the flat surface advancing and receding angles. For all cases, $\phi =0.25$.

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Figure 5. Regions of validity (shaded) for the contact-angle energy analysis based on a typical water/air system. The velocity limits ${v}_{cv,cap}$, ${v}_{cv,ke}$ and ${v}_{cv,vis}$, and the entire shaded validity region (dark grey plus light grey), assume that the CV size depends on the solid roughness according to ${r}_{cv}/{h}_{rough}=10$. Conversely, the velocity limits ${v}_{cv,cap}'$, ${v}_{cv,ke}'$ and ${v}_{cv,vis}'$, and the light grey validity region, assume that the CV size is constant at the maximum allowable value of ${r}_{cv}={r}_{cv,max}={r}_{cv,grav}/10$.

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Figure 6. The smooth interface surface $S$ separates two immiscible materials within a volume $V$. Expressed in terms of the convected surface coordinates $(q_{2},q_{3})$, $S$ is constant for all time.

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Figure 7. The two-dimensional integral of the delta function.

Figure 9

Figure 8. Three thin regions on the circumference of the CV (${S}_{cv,cir}$) are defined that contain all of the phase interfaces that intersect with this boundary.

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