Applied Mechanics Commons^™

Self-Assembly Of Colloidal Particles From Evaporating Droplets: Role Of Dlvo Interactions And Proposition Of A Phase Diagram, Rajneesh Bhardwaj, Xiaohua Fang, Ponisseril Somasundaran, Daniel Attinger

Daniel Attinger

The shape of deposits obtained from drying drops containing colloidal particles matters for technologies such as inkjet printing, microelectronics, and bioassay manufacturing. In this work, the formation of deposits during the drying of nanoliter drops containing colloidal particles is investigated experimentally with microscopy and profilometry, and theoretically with an in-house finite-element code. The system studied involves aqueous drops containing titania nanoparticles evaporating on a glass substrate. Deposit shapes from spotted drops at different pH values are measured using a laser profilometer. Our results show that the pH of the solution influences the dried deposit pattern, which can be ring-like or …