scholarly journals Wettability in complex porous materials, the mixed-wet state, and its relationship to surface roughness

2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (36) ◽  
pp. 8901-8906 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed AlRatrout ◽  
Martin J. Blunt ◽  
Branko Bijeljic
Keyword(s):  
Surface Roughness ◽  
Contact Angle ◽  
Pore Space ◽  
Contact Angles ◽  
Wettability Alteration ◽  
Water Repellent ◽  
Local Degree ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Mixed Wettability ◽  
The Impact

A quantitative in situ characterization of the impact of surface roughness on wettability in porous media is currently lacking. We use reservoir condition micrometer-resolution X-ray tomography combined with automated methods for the measurement of contact angle, interfacial curvature, and surface roughness to examine fluid/fluid and fluid/solid interfaces inside a porous material. We study oil and water in the pore space of limestone from a giant producing oilfield, acquiring millions of measurements of curvature and contact angle on three millimeter-sized samples. We identify a distinct wetting state with a broad distribution of contact angle at the submillimeter scale with a mix of water-wet and water-repellent regions. Importantly, this state allows both fluid phases to flow simultaneously over a wide range of saturation. We establish that, in media that are largely water wet, the interfacial curvature does not depend on solid surface roughness, quantified as the local deviation from a plane. However, where there has been a significant wettability alteration, rougher surfaces are associated with lower contact angles and higher interfacial curvature. The variation of both contact angle and interfacial curvature increases with the local degree of roughness. We hypothesize that this mixed wettability may also be seen in biological systems to facilitate the simultaneous flow of water and gases; furthermore, wettability-altering agents could be used in both geological systems and material science to design a mixed-wetting state with optimal process performance.

The Wetting of Insect Cuticles by Water

1955 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 591-617 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. W. HOLDGATE
Keyword(s):  
Surface Roughness ◽  
Contact Angle ◽  
Surface Properties ◽  
Surface Composition ◽  
Contact Angles ◽  
Aquatic Species ◽  
Water Contact ◽  
Calliphora Erythrocephala ◽  
Wetting Properties ◽  
Wide Range

1. The water contact angles of insects show a wide range of variation, which is broadly correlated with surface roughness and with habitat. 2. The contact angles of species inhabiting stored products or carrion are greatly modified by contamination. This produces large variations between apparently similar individuals. 3. In terrestrial insects surface roughness increases the contact angles to very large apparent values. Detailed analyses of its effect have been made in the pupa of Tenebrio molitor and the adult Calliphora erythrocephala. In some aquatic insects surface roughness leads to a reduction in the contact angles; this has been studied in the nymph of Anax imperator. 4. Prolonged immersion in water causes a lowering of the contact angles of all the insects examined, and the low angles of many aquatic species may therefore be the direct effect of their environment. In some aquatic species there is evidence of the active maintenance of a large contact angle during life. 5. Changes in contact angle accompany processes of cuticle secretion and will occur at any moult if changes in roughness or habitat take place. 6. The observed variations of surface properties can be explained without assuming any variation in the chemical composition of the cuticle surface. Wetting properties are of little value as indicators of cuticle surface composition. 7. The biological aspects of insect surface properties are briefly discussed.

Surface Wettability Effects in Heat and Fluid Flow

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasuyuki Takata
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flux ◽  
Contact Angle ◽  
Two Phase Flow ◽  
Contact Angles ◽  
Bubble Nucleation ◽  
Surface Wettability ◽  
Water Repellent ◽  
Phase Flow ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Wide Range

Effects of surface wettability on liquid-vapor phase change phenomena and single- and two-phase flow in tube have been studied in wide range of contact angles using superhy drophilic (SH) and super-water-repellent (SWR) surfaces. Heat transfer in falling film evaporation on a TiO2-coated SH surface is tremendously enhanced due to very thin stable film. In pool bioling, critical heat flux (CHF) and minimum heat flux (MHF) increase with the decrease in contact angle. Wetting limit temperature of water drop on heated surface increases with the decrease in contact angle. In pool boiling on SWR surface, bubble nucleation and film boiling occur in extremely small superheating. Drag reduction was observed in water flow in tube with SWR coating in laminar flow region, and on the other hand, in two-phase flow pressure drop for the SH wall is smaller than that for the SWR wall.

scholarly journals Is contact angle a cause or an effect? – A cautionary tale

2020 ◽  
Vol 146 ◽  
pp. 03004
Author(s):  
Douglas Ruth
Keyword(s):  
Contact Angle ◽  
Solid Surface ◽  
Contact Angles ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Experimental Results ◽  
Flow In Porous Media ◽  
Two Dimensional ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Fluid Drop ◽  
Surrounding Fluid

The most influential parameter on the behavior of two-component flow in porous media is “wettability”. When wettability is being characterized, the most frequently used parameter is the “contact angle”. When a fluid-drop is placed on a solid surface, in the presence of a second, surrounding fluid, the fluid-fluid surface contacts the solid-surface at an angle that is typically measured through the fluid-drop. If this angle is less than 90°, the fluid in the drop is said to “wet” the surface. If this angle is greater than 90°, the surrounding fluid is said to “wet” the surface. This definition is universally accepted and appears to be scientifically justifiable, at least for a static situation where the solid surface is horizontal. Recently, this concept has been extended to characterize wettability in non-static situations using high-resolution, two-dimensional digital images of multi-component systems. Using simple thought experiments and published experimental results, many of them decades old, it will be demonstrated that contact angles are not primary parameters – their values depend on many other parameters. Using these arguments, it will be demonstrated that contact angles are not the cause of wettability behavior but the effect of wettability behavior and other parameters. The result of this is that the contact angle cannot be used as a primary indicator of wettability except in very restricted situations. Furthermore, it will be demonstrated that even for the simple case of a capillary interface in a vertical tube, attempting to use simply a two-dimensional image to determine the contact angle can result in a wide range of measured values. This observation is consistent with some published experimental results. It follows that contact angles measured in two-dimensions cannot be trusted to provide accurate values and these values should not be used to characterize the wettability of the system.

Modeling of Transport During Droplet Deposition and Spreading on Smooth and Microstructured Superhydrophilic Surfaces

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jordan P. Mizerak ◽  
Van P. Carey
Keyword(s):  
Contact Angle ◽  
Contact Angles ◽  
Ansys Fluent ◽  
Effective Contact ◽  
Microstructured Surfaces ◽  
Static Contact ◽  
Droplet Behavior ◽  
Contact Line Pinning ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Superhydrophilic Surfaces

The dynamic behavior of impinging water droplets is studied in the context of varying surface morphologies on smooth and microstructured superhydrophilic surfaces. The goal of this study is to evaluate the capability of contact angle wall adhesion models to accurately produce spreading phenomena seen on a variety of surface types. We analyze macroscale droplet behavior, specifically spreading extent and impinging regime, in situations of varying microscale wetting character and surface morphology. Axisymmetric, volume of fluid (VOF) simulations with static contact angle wall adhesion are conducted in ANSYS Fluent. Simulations are performed on water for low Weber numbers (We<20) on surfaces with features of length scale 5–10μm. Advanced microstructured surfaces consisting of unique wetting characteristics and lengths on each face are also tested. Results show that while the contact angle wall adhesion model shows fair agreement for conventional surfaces, the model underestimates spreading by over 60% for surfaces exhibiting estimated contact angles below approximately 0.5°. Microstructured surfaces adapt the wetting behavior of smooth surfaces with higher effective contact angles based on contact line pinning on morphology features. The propensity of the model to produce Wenzel and Cassie-Baxter states is linked to the spreading radius, introducing an interdependency of microscale wetting and macroscale spreading behavior. Conclusions describing the impact of results on evaporative cooling are also discussed.

scholarly journals Gas Permeability of Cellulose Aerogels with a Designed Dual Pore Space System

Molecules ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (15) ◽  
pp. 2688 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathirvel Ganesan ◽  
Adam Barowski ◽  
Lorenz Ratke
Keyword(s):  
Porous Materials ◽  
Cell Walls ◽  
Gas Permeability ◽  
Pore Space ◽  
Nitrogen Adsorption ◽  
Space System ◽  
Fixed Amount ◽  
Hydrophilic Lipophilic Balance ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Impact

The gas permeability of a porous material is a key property determining the impact of the material in an application such as filter/separation techniques. In the present study, aerogels of cellulose scaffolds were designed with a dual pore space system consisting of macropores with cell walls composing of mesopores and a nanofibrillar network. The gas permeability properties of these dual porous materials were compared with classical cellulose aerogels. Emulsifying the oil droplets in the hot salt–hydrate melt with a fixed amount of cellulose was performed in the presence of surfactants. The surfactants varied in physical, chemical and structural properties and a range of hydrophilic–lipophilic balance (HLB) values, 13.5 to 18. A wide range of hierarchical dual pore space systems were produced and analysed using nitrogen adsorption–desorption analysis and scanning electron microscopy. The microstructures of the dual pore system of aerogels were quantitatively characterized using image analysis methods. The gas permeability was measured and discussed with respect to the well-known model of Carman–Kozeny for open porous materials. The gas permeability values implied that the kind of the macropore channel’s size, shape, their connectivity through the neck parts and the mesoporous structures on the cell walls are significantly controlling the flow resistance of air. Adaption of this new design route for cellulose-based aerogels can be suitable for advanced filters/membranes production and also biological or catalytic supporting materials since the emulsion template method allows the tailoring of the gas permeability while the nanopores of the cell walls can act simultaneously as absorbers.

scholarly journals A spherical particle straddling a fluid/gas interface in an axisymmetric straining flow

1990 ◽  
Vol 217 ◽  
pp. 263-298 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. A. Stoos ◽  
L. G. Leal
Keyword(s):  
Contact Angle ◽  
Spherical Particle ◽  
Numerical Solutions ◽  
Contact Angles ◽  
Boundary Integral ◽  
Equilibrium Contact Angle ◽  
Equilibrium Configurations ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Neutrally Buoyant

Numerical solutions, obtained via the boundary-integral technique, are used to consider the effect of a linear axisymmetric straining flow on the existence of steady-state configurations in which a neutrally buoyant spherical particle straddles a gas–liquid interface. The problem is directly applicable to predictions of the stability of particle capture in flotation processes, and is also of interest in the context of contact angle and surface tension measurements. A primary goal of the present study is a determination of the critical capillary number, Cac, beyond which an initially captured particle is pulled from the interface by the flow, and the dependence of Cac on the equilibrium contact angle θc. We also present equilibrium configurations for a wide range of contact angles and subcritical capillary numbers.

scholarly journals Amphiphobic Nanostructured Coatings for Industrial Applications

Materials ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 787 ◽  
Author(s):  
Federico Veronesi ◽  
Giulio Boveri ◽  
Mariarosa Raimondo
Keyword(s):  
Surface Tension ◽  
Contact Angle ◽  
Photoelectron Spectroscopy ◽  
Contact Angle Hysteresis ◽  
Contact Angles ◽  
Friction Reduction ◽  
Hybrid Coatings ◽  
Wetting Behavior ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Solid Liquid

The search for surfaces with non-wetting behavior towards water and low-surface tension liquids affects a wide range of industries. Surface wetting is regulated by morphological and chemical features interacting with liquid phases under different ambient conditions. Most of the approaches to the fabrication of liquid-repellent surfaces are inspired by living organisms and require the fabrication of hierarchically organized structures, coupled with low surface energy chemical composition. This paper deals with the design of amphiphobic metals (AM) and alloys by deposition of nano-oxides suspensions in alcoholic or aqueous media, coupled with perfluorinated compounds and optional infused lubricant liquids resulting in, respectively, solid–liquid–air and solid–liquid–liquid working interfaces. Nanostructured organic/inorganic hybrid coatings with contact angles against water above 170°, contact angle with n-hexadecane (surface tension γ = 27 mN/m at 20 °C) in the 140–150° range and contact angle hysteresis lower than 5° have been produced. A full characterization of surface chemistry has been undertaken by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses, while field-emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) observations allowed the estimation of coatings thicknesses (300–400 nm) and their morphological features. The durability of fabricated amphiphobic surfaces was also assessed with a wide range of tests that showed their remarkable resistance to chemically aggressive environments, mechanical stresses and ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Moreover, this work analyzes the behavior of amphiphobic surfaces in terms of anti-soiling, snow-repellent and friction-reduction properties—all originated from their non-wetting behavior. The achieved results make AM materials viable solutions to be applied in different sectors answering several and pressing technical needs.

scholarly journals Wettability control on multiphase flow in patterned microfluidics

2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (37) ◽  
pp. 10251-10256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benzhong Zhao ◽  
Christopher W. MacMinn ◽  
Ruben Juanes
Keyword(s):  
Porous Media ◽  
Multiphase Flow ◽  
Contact Angles ◽  
Flow In Porous Media ◽  
Wetting Transition ◽  
Pore Scale ◽  
Displacement Efficiency ◽  
Pore Filling ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Impact

Multiphase flow in porous media is important in many natural and industrial processes, including geologic CO2 sequestration, enhanced oil recovery, and water infiltration into soil. Although it is well known that the wetting properties of porous media can vary drastically depending on the type of media and pore fluids, the effect of wettability on multiphase flow continues to challenge our microscopic and macroscopic descriptions. Here, we study the impact of wettability on viscously unfavorable fluid–fluid displacement in disordered media by means of high-resolution imaging in microfluidic flow cells patterned with vertical posts. By systematically varying the wettability of the flow cell over a wide range of contact angles, we find that increasing the substrate’s affinity to the invading fluid results in more efficient displacement of the defending fluid up to a critical wetting transition, beyond which the trend is reversed. We identify the pore-scale mechanisms—cooperative pore filling (increasing displacement efficiency) and corner flow (decreasing displacement efficiency)—responsible for this macroscale behavior, and show that they rely on the inherent 3D nature of interfacial flows, even in quasi-2D media. Our results demonstrate the powerful control of wettability on multiphase flow in porous media, and show that the markedly different invasion protocols that emerge—from pore filling to postbridging—are determined by physical mechanisms that are missing from current pore-scale and continuum-scale descriptions.

Tailoring Surface Hydrophobicity of Commercial Polyimide by Laser-Induced Nanocarbon Texturing

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Moataz Abdulhafez ◽  
Angela J. McComb ◽  
Mostafa Bedewy
Keyword(s):  
Contact Angle ◽  
Surface Characterization ◽  
Surface Engineering ◽  
Processing Parameters ◽  
Surface Hydrophobicity ◽  
Spot Size ◽  
Contact Angles ◽  
Water Contact ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Surface Nanostructure

Abstract The growth of laser-induced nanocarbons, referred to here as laser-induced nanocarbon (LINC) for short, directly on polymeric surfaces is a promising route toward surface engineering of commercial polymers. This paper aims to demonstrate how this new approach can enable achieving varied surface properties based on tuning the nanostructured morphology of the formed graphitic material on commercial polyimide (Kapton) films. We elucidate the effects of tuning laser processing parameters on the achieved nanoscale morphology and the resulting surface hydrophobicity or hydrophilicity. Our results show that by varying lasing power, rastering speed, laser spot size, and line-to-line gap sizes, a wide range of water contact angles are possible, i.e., from below 20 deg to above 110 deg. Combining water contact angle measurements from an optical tensiometer with LINC surface characterization using optical microscopy, electron microscopy, and Raman spectroscopy enables building the process–structur–property relationship. Our findings reveal that both the value of contact angle and the anisotropic wetting behavior of LINC on polyimide are dependent on their hierarchical surface nanostructure which ranges from isotropic nanoporous morphology to fibrous morphology. Results also show that increasing gap sizes lead to an increase in contact angles and thus an increase in the hydrophobicity of the surface. Hence, our work highlight the potential of this approach for manufacturing flexible devices with tailored surfaces.

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