Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 10, 2026

Fast Imaging Technique to Study Drop Impact Dynamics of Non-Newtonian Fluids
Published on: March 5, 2014
Onset of buckling in drying droplets of colloidal suspensions
N Tsapis1, E R Dufresne, S S Sinha
1DEAS and Department of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
Abstract:
Minute concentrations of suspended particles can dramatically alter the behavior of a drying droplet. After a period of isotropic shrinkage, similar to droplets of a pure liquid, these droplets suddenly buckle like an elastic shell. While linear elasticity is able to describe the morphology of the buckled droplets, it fails to predict the onset of buckling. Instead, we find that buckling is coincident with a stress-induced fluid to solid transition in a shell of particles at a droplet's surface, occurring when attractive capillary forces overcome stabilizing electrostatic forces between particles.
Related Concept Videos
Colloids
Colloids and Suspensions
Precipitate Formation and Particle Size Control
The obtained precipitate should be either a pure substance of known composition or easily converted to one by a simple process, such as ignition or drying. In addition, the precipitate should be insoluble and easily filterable. In general, filterability...
Precipitation Processes
Colloidal precipitates
The Colloidal State

