Evaporative Deposition Patterns Revisited: Spatial Dimensions of the Deposit

TL;DR

This paper presents a model for the spatial dimensions of deposits formed by evaporating colloidal drops, accounting for finite particle size, and validates it against experimental data, enhancing understanding of deposit pattern formation.

Contribution

The study introduces an analytical and numerical model that incorporates finite particle volume to predict deposit geometries in evaporating drops, aligning well with experimental observations.

Findings

Model accurately predicts deposit dimensions based on initial conditions.

Finite particle size explains observed deposit pattern variations.

Results are universal, parameter-free, and applicable to controlled pattern creation.

Abstract

A model accounting for finite spatial dimensions of the deposit patterns in the evaporating sessile drops of colloidal solution on a plane substrate is proposed. The model is based on the assumption that the solute particles occupy finite volume and hence these dimensions are of the steric origin. Within this model, the geometrical characteristics of the deposition patterns are found as functions of the initial concentration of the solute, the initial geometry of the drop, and the time elapsed from the beginning of the drying process. The model is solved analytically for small initial concentrations of the solute and numerically for arbitrary initial concentrations of the solute. The agreement between our theoretical results and the experimental data is demonstrated, and it is shown that the observed dependence of the deposit dimensions on the experimental parameters can indeed be attributed to the finite dimensions of the solute particles. These results are universal and do not depend on any free or fitting parameters; they are important for understanding the evaporative deposition and may be useful for creating controlled deposition patterns.