Existence of micrometer-scale water droplets at solvent/air interfaces

Standard surface energy balances using literature values for pure liquids predict that water droplets are unstable at the liquid/air interfaces of many common organic solvents. While the behavior of macroscopic drops in the presence of solvents has been studied, the study of droplets in the micrometer size regime and the possible role of line tension are notably absent. In this article, we experimentally investigate the existence and stability of such micrometer-scale droplets formed at air/solvent interfaces and the possible roles played by partial solubility of organic liquids in water and solvent migration in the lowering of the key air/water surface tension. Three solvents are studied: toluene, butyl acetate, and chloroform, using a technique to optically monitor both condensation and manual deposition of water microdroplets onto air/solvent surfaces. This demonstrates both the existence of stable water droplets and allows measurement of the contact angles at the solvent/water/air interface. Contact angles are shown to be independent of droplet size (diameters: 2-30 μm), ruling out a line tension stabilization mechanism for droplets of radii greater than 1 μm. The interfacial tensions of the deposited water droplets are independently measured using an equivalent macroscopic experiment, which yield results consistent with the partial miscibility of toluene and butyl acetate in water. A discrepancy is observed for chloroform, for which possible mechanisms are discussed.