Marangoni flow at droplet interfaces: Three-dimensional solution and applications

TL;DR

This paper provides a comprehensive analytical solution for three-dimensional Marangoni flows at droplet interfaces, exploring their applications in active emulsion droplets with controllable motion via surfactant manipulation and light stimuli.

Contribution

It offers the first full 3D analytical formulas for Marangoni flow around self-propelled droplets and introduces generalized swimmer parameters for active emulsion control.

Findings

Analytical formulas for flow fields inside, outside, and at droplet interface.

Demonstration of symmetry breaking leading to directed droplet motion.

Control of droplet trajectories using light-switchable surfactants.

Abstract

The Marangoni effect refers to fluid flow induced by a gradient in surface tension at a fluid-fluid interface. We determine the full three-dimensional Marangoni flow generated by a non-uniform surface tension profile at the interface of a self-propelled spherical emulsion droplet. For all flow fields inside, outside, and at the interface of the droplet, we give analytical formulas. We also calculate the droplet velocity vector $\mathbf{v}^D$, which describes the swimming kinematics of the droplet, and generalize the squirmer parameter $\beta$, which distinguishes between different swimmer types called neutral, pusher, or puller. In the second part of this paper, we present two illustrative examples, where the Marangoni effect is used in active emulsion droplets. First, we demonstrate how micelle adsorption can spontaneously break the isotropic symmetry of an initially surfactant-free emulsion droplet, which then performs directed motion. Second, we think about light-switchable surfactants and laser light to create a patch with a different surfactant type at the droplet interface. Depending on the setup such as the wavelength of the laser light and the surfactant type in the outer bulk fluid, one can either push droplets along unstable trajectories or pull them along straight or oscillatory trajectories regulated by specific parameters. We explore these cases for strongly absorbing and for transparent droplets.