Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 16, 2026

Temperature-Controlled Assembly and Characterization of a Droplet Interface Bilayer
Published on: April 19, 2021
Formation and mobility of droplets on composite layered substrates
A Yochelis1, E Knobloch, L M Pismen
1Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-7300, USA. yochelis@ucla.edu
Abstract:
A mesoscale fluid film placed on a solid support may break up and form droplets. In addition, droplets may exhibit spontaneous translation by modifying the wetting properties of the substrate, resulting in asymmetry in the contact angles. We examine mechanisms for droplet formation and motion on uniform and terraced landscapes, i.e., composite substrates. The fluid film stability, droplet formation and velocity are studied theoretically in the isothermal case using a lubrication approach in one spatial dimension. The droplet properties are found to involve contributions from both the terraced layer thickness and molecular interactions via the disjoining potential.
Related Concept Videos
Theories of Dissolution: Diffusion Layer Model
This process starts with a thin layer, saturated with the drug, forming at the interface between the solid and liquid. The solute then diffuses from this layer into the main solution. The Noyes-Whitney equation suggests that the rate of dissolution relies on the diffusion...
Surface Tension of Fluid
Surface tension varies with...
Theories of Dissolution: The Danckwerts' Model and Interfacial Barrier Model

