Can surfactant be present at pinch-off of a liquid filament?
Journal
Physical Review Letters
Journal Volume
98
Journal Issue
5
Date Issued
2007
Author(s)
Abstract
Surfactants lower surface tension and are used to facilitate breakup and spreading. How much surfactant remains where a filament of initial radius R breaks is set by the ratio of convection, which sweeps surfactant away, to diffusion, which replenishes it, or Peclet number Pe R. Thus, as is well known, surfactant concentration Γ→0 when a macroscale filament breaks. Here theory and simulation are used to investigate pinch-off of microscopic filaments. At breakup, Γ is shown to be nonzero but uniform on a filament of negligible Pe. Since R must be finite, the zero-Pe limit is transitory and yields to a final regime. Two such regimes with distinct dynamics characterized by different scaling exponents are reported. © 2007 The American Physical Society.
Type
journal article