Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 26, 2026

Measuring the Interaction Force Between a Droplet and a Super-hydrophobic Substrate by the Optical Lever Method
Published on: June 14, 2019
Transition in the evaporation kinetics of water microdrops on hydrophilic surfaces
Dmytro S Golovko1, Hans-Jürgen Butt, Elmar Bonaccurso
1Max-Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, D-55128 Mainz, Germany.
Abstract:
We describe a technique that allows measurement of the mass and shape of sessile liquid microdrops during evaporation. Therefore, the microdrops are deposited by an inkjet onto a silicon microcantilever, and the bending and the shift in resonance frequency are monitored. From hydrophobized surfaces, microscopic water drops evaporate with the same kinetics as macroscopic drops; we verify the validity of known evaporation laws to drops with diameters from 100 microm to below 10 microm. From hydrophilic surfaces, the evaporation is slowed down during the last approximately 100 ms; we believe that this occurs due to flattening of the drops, which are then stabilized by interfacial forces and disjoining pressure.
Related Concept Videos
Phase Transitions: Vaporization and Condensation
Surface Tension
Surface Tension of Fluid
Surface tension varies with...
Vaporization
Phase Transitions: Sublimation and Deposition
Theories of Dissolution: The Danckwerts' Model and Interfacial Barrier Model

