Evolution of mass, surface layer composition and light scattering of evaporating, single microdroplets of SDS/DEG suspension. Shrinking droplet surface as the micelles generator

TL;DR

This study investigates the evaporation dynamics and surface composition changes of SDS/DEG microdroplets, revealing cyclic surface monolayer behavior and determining the critical micelle concentration through a developed model.

Contribution

It introduces a model linking SDS concentration to droplet evaporation rate and identifies cyclic surface monolayer changes during evaporation.

Findings

SDS/DEG droplet evaporation follows exponential decay.

Cyclic surface SDS concentration correlates with micelle formation.

Critical micelle concentration in DEG is 60±2 mM.

Abstract

We study the evolution of the mass of evaporating single microdroplets of sodium do-decyl sulphate (SDS) / diethylene glycol (DEG) mixture. First, we recognise and deconvolute the influence of residual water evaporation [Kolwas et al. Soft Matter 2019;15:1825], which accelerates the composite droplet evaporation, a simple exponential decay of the evaporating droplet surface change rate. This enables us to study the influence of SDS concentration on the composite droplet evaporation. Next, we establish a simple relationship between the average SDS concentration and the droplet evaporation rate to enable the study of the evolution of SDS concentration at the droplet surface. The oscillatory nature of surface SDS concentration indicates cyclic changes in the surface monolayer associated with the cyclic creation of vesicles (micelles) at the surface. The model we developed, allows the determination of SDS critical micelles concentration (CMC) in DEG as 60+/-2 mM.