Droplet Spreading with Sol-Gel Transition

The impact and spreading of liquid droplets on a smooth solid substrate is a classical subject with several industrial applications such as ink-jet printing, spray cooling, coating, and many others. For many of these deposition processes, controlling the final shape of the drop is critical. In the current research, a new technique for controlling the spreading of droplets impacting a substrate is presented. This technique exploits the rheology of a thermo-responsive polymer solution that undergoes a reversible sol/gel transition above a critical temperature. Experiments are conducted using a combination of shadowgraphy and micro-PIV to observe spreading drops. It is shown that the final diameter of a droplet can be controlled through the temperature of the substrate and the tunable sol/gel transition temperature of the fluid.A mathematical model is provided to further elucidate the flow dynamics.