How Do Different Liquid Metal Films Coalesce on Carbon Substrates?

XF Zhang and T Li and YF Li and YR Duan and H Li, JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY C, 122, 7702-7711 (2018).

DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.7b12756

Droplet coalescence plays an indispensable role in diverse natural and industrial processes. However, it is still unclear that how the wettability and microstructure of the substrates influence the coalescence. Molecular dynamics simulations were used to investigate the coalescence behaviors of liquid metal films on carbon substrates. Two different coalescence regimes climbing-coalescence and coating- coalescence were, respectively, observed in Cu-Al and Cu-Ag systems on graphene. The balance of metal substrate and metal metal interactions was regarded as the key factor to determine the coalescence regimes. Additionally, the effects of surface roughness and atomic arrangement of substrates on the movements of droplets were also analyzed on other carbon materials. Our findings offer a thorough understanding of the relationship between coalescence and wettability and could Have important implications in self-assembly, three-dimensional printing, and microfluidic devices.

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