Lattice Boltzmann simulations of drying suspensions of soft particles

TL;DR

This study uses lattice Boltzmann simulations to explore how particle softness affects microstructure formation and defect development in drying colloidal suspensions of soft particles.

Contribution

It introduces a numerical method to analyze the impact of particle softness on film microstructure during drying, revealing non-monotonic behavior of order parameters.

Findings

Non-monotonic change in order parameters with particle softness

Rigid particles form chain-like structures during drying

Increased softness leads to clustering of particles

Abstract

The ordering of particles in the drying process of a colloidal suspension is crucial in determining the properties of the resulting film. For example, microscopic inhomogeneities can lead to the formation of cracks and defects that can deteriorate the quality of the film considerably. This type of problem is inherently multiscale and here we study it numerically, using our recently developed method for the simulation of soft polymeric capsules in multicomponent fluids. We focus on the effect of the particle softness on the film microstructure during the drying phase and how it relates to the formation of defects. We quantify the order of the particles by measuring both the Voronoi entropy and the isotropic order parameter. Surprisingly, both observables exhibit a non-monotonic behaviour when the softness of the particles is increased. We further investigate the correlation between the interparticle interaction and the change in the microstructure during the evaporation phase. We observe that the rigid particles form chain-like structures that tend to scatter into small clusters when the particle softness is increased.