Difference between revisions of "Self-Assembly of Gradient Concentric Rings via Solvent Evaporation from a Capillary Bridge"
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Jun Xu, Jianfeng Xia, Suck Won Hong, Zhiqun Lin, Feng Qiu and Yuliang Yang, Self-Assembly of Gradient Concentric Rings via Solvent Evaporation from a Capillary Bridge, PRL 96 066104 (2006) [http://scitation.aip.org.ezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu/getabs/servlet/GetabsServlet?prog=normal&id=PRLTAO000096000006066104000001&idtype=cvips&gifs=yes] | Jun Xu, Jianfeng Xia, Suck Won Hong, Zhiqun Lin, Feng Qiu and Yuliang Yang, Self-Assembly of Gradient Concentric Rings via Solvent Evaporation from a Capillary Bridge, PRL 96 066104 (2006) [http://scitation.aip.org.ezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu/getabs/servlet/GetabsServlet?prog=normal&id=PRLTAO000096000006066104000001&idtype=cvips&gifs=yes] | ||
Latest revision as of 02:22, 24 August 2009
Original entry: Tony Orth, APPHY 226, Spring 2009
Jun Xu, Jianfeng Xia, Suck Won Hong, Zhiqun Lin, Feng Qiu and Yuliang Yang, Self-Assembly of Gradient Concentric Rings via Solvent Evaporation from a Capillary Bridge, PRL 96 066104 (2006) [1]
Antony Orth
Brief Summary
The dewetting of a liquid forming a capillary bridge between a plane and a sphere is studied. The evaporating liquid carries MEH-PPV (a non-volatile polymer with optical applications) which in a sense acts to record the drying dynamics of the carrier liquid (toluene). In fact, the polymers also perturb the dewetting process via a ``slip-stick" mechanism similar to the effect observed when a drop dries off of an unclean surface. The evaporation process produces a pattern concentric rings of polymer on the Si substrate, with a non-trivial radial scaling of ring spacing: an artifact of the drying geometry.
Capillarity Phenomena
When the toluene (containing MEH-PPV) evaporates from the capillary bridge (see figure 1), the footprint of the liquid on the Si wafer is determined by a competition between pinning and capillary forces.

The authors develop a rather involved mathematical description of this effect by considering the change in contact angle after the evaporation of a volume <math>\delta V</math> of liquid. The non-trivial geometry of the capillary bridge renders this somewhat complex to attack specifically, however the salient features can be explained rather simply. Firstly, the pinning force must clearly be proportional to the circumference of the contact circle <math>2\pi X</math>. However, the radial component of the capillary force <math>F_{cap}</math> does not simply scale with the circumference of the footprint. <math>F_{cap}</math> consists of a force per unit length directed towards the centre of the sphere, which itself if radius dependent because <math>d\theta_{i,c}/dX \neq 0</math>. The author's state that <math>F_{cap} \propto X \arctan{(4aR/X^2)} </math>, where <math>a</math> is the height of the meniscus (figure 1 )and R is the radius (of curvature) of the sphere.
This method has been suggested as a non-lithographic route to micropatterning surfaces. There have been several other publications demonstrating different concentric patterns created by dewetting of solute-containing liquids[2][3][4]