2016/04/18 by Ciro Semprebon, Glen McHale, Semprebon, Ciro +3
Engineering · Materials Science · #Adhesion, Friction, and Surface Interactions #FOS: Physical sciences #Fluid Dynamics and Thin Films #Soft Condensed Matter (cond-mat.soft) #Surface Modification and Superhydrophobicity
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1604.05362
openalex publication_date 2016/04/18 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We theoretically investigate the apparent contact angle and contact angle\nhysteresis of a droplet placed on a liquid infused surface. We show that the\napparent contact angle is not uniquely defined by material parameters, but also\nhas a strong dependence on the relative size between the droplet and its\nsurrounding wetting ridge formed by the infusing liquid. We derive a closed\nform expression for the contact angle in the limit of vanishing wetting ridge,\nand compute the correction for small but finite ridge, which corresponds to an\neffective line tension term. We also predict contact angle hysteresis on liquid\ninfused surfaces generated by the pinning of the contact lines by the surface\ncorrugations. Our analytical expressions for both the apparent contact angle\nand contact angle hysteresis can be interpreted as `weighted sums' between the\ncontact angles of the infusing liquid relative to the droplet and surrounding\ngas phases, where the weighting coefficients are given by ratios of the fluid\nsurface tensions.\n