Effect of viscosity on surface acoustic wave driven collective particle dynamics in sessile droplets: nebula, black holes and white dwarfs

TL;DR

This study investigates how fluid viscosity influences particle behavior in droplets driven by surface acoustic waves, revealing mechanisms behind black hole formation and proposing methods for particle concentration using hydrodynamic shielding.

Contribution

It provides a novel analysis of viscosity effects on SAW-driven particle dynamics and introduces the concept of hydrodynamic shielding for particle concentration.

Findings

Black holes form due to steric hindrance in poloidal streamlines.

Black hole size correlates with aggregate size in less viscous droplets.

Hydrodynamic shielding enables concentration of small particles using larger beads.

Abstract

Surface acoustic waves (SAW) can concentrate micro-particles in droplets within seconds. Yet, the mechanism is not clear and existing explanations fail by several orders of magnitude. In this paper, we analyze the effect of fluid viscosity and particle size on SAW-driven collective particle dynamics in droplets. In most of our experiments, the particles do not aggregate but instead remain away from the droplet center, thereby forming "black holes". We show that the black holes are due to steric hindrance wherein the poloidal streamlines that should drive particles to the center of the droplet come too close to the solid, so that the particles carried along these streamlines touch the solid wall on the edge of the black hole before reaching the center of the droplet. The size of these black holes is correlated with the size of the aggregates formed in less viscous droplets. This suggests a common formation mechanism for black holes and white dwarfs (aggregates). In the former, the particles touching the solid would be washed away by the fluid, whereas in the latter the particles would remain in contact with the solid and roll to the center of the droplet where an aggregate is formed. We also discuss the stability conditions of the aggregate at the bottom of the droplet. The concept of hydrodynamic shielding is then used to concentrate 1 $\mu$m particles using 10 $\mu$m beads as shields.