Spontaneous dispersion of particles on liquid surfaces

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

11-24-2009

Abstract

When small particles (e.g., flour, pollen, etc.) come in contact with a liquid surface, they immediately disperse. The dispersion can occur so quickly that it appears explosive, especially for small particles on the surface of mobile liquids like water. This explosive dispersion is the consequence of capillary force pulling particles into the interface causing them to accelerate to a relatively large velocity. The maximum velocity increases with decreasing particle size; for nanometer-sized particles (e.g., viruses and proteins), the velocity on an air-water interface can be as large as ≈47 m/s. We also show that particles oscillate at a relatively high frequency about their floating equilibrium before coming to stop under viscous drag. The observed dispersion is a result of strong repulsive hydrodynamic forces that arise because of these oscillations.

Identifier

73949117779 (Scopus)

Publication Title

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

External Full Text Location

https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0910343106

e-ISSN

10916490

ISSN

00278424

PubMed ID

19906995

First Page

19761

Last Page

19764

Issue

47

Volume

106

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS