Towards a computational modeling of structure formation in colloidal drying

We present lattice Boltzmann models at different scales for the simulation of colloidal drying in the presence of polymers and structure formation in resulting phase-separation fronts. When a drop of colloid polymer mixture is exposed to an environment in which the solvent in which these particles are suspended evaporates an accumulation of non-volotile material at the rim of the drop is observed (coffee ring effect). When the solvent concentration is reduced bejond a certain threshold, the colloid polymer mixture undergoes phase separation. The structures formed by this phase-separation is observed to depend on the processing conditions. In this presentation we will briefly present the experimental observations and our numerical approach to address the observed phenomena.