Penetration Behavior of a Water Droplet into a Cylindrical Hydrophobic Pore.

ABSTRACT

Understanding the dynamics with which a water droplet penetrates a pore is important because of its relationship with transfer phenomena in plants and animals. Using a high-speed camera, we observe the penetration processes of a water droplet into a cylindrical pore on a silicone substrate. The force on the water droplet is generated by dropping the substrate plus water droplet from a height of several centimeters onto an acrylic resin substrate. The penetration characteristics depend on pore size Dp, height of release of a drop h, and the viscosity of the droplet liquid and are classified into the following patterns spreading, penetration, and breaking. During the process of relaxation to the steady state, various interesting deformation or oscillation phenomena occur. Based on high-speed images, we estimate the interfacial energy ΔG during the intermediate states and find an energy barrier ΔG = 1 × 10(-7) J when Dp = 1.0 mm and h = 15 mm for the spreading pattern and ΔG = 0.7 × 10(-7) J when Dp = 1.0 mm and h = 10 mm for the penetration pattern. Finally, based on a theoretical model considering the driving and suppression factors, we explain the experimentally obtained phase diagram including the separation, penetration, and breaking patterns.