Increased evaporation kinetics of sessile droplets by using nanoparticles

The effect of nanoparticles on the evaporation of a sessile droplet into air is still controversial. Unlike insoluble surfactants which reduce the droplet evaporation rate, here we show that the presence of nanoparticles and the increase of their concentration lead to an increase in the overall rate of diffusive evaporation and, consequently, a decrease of the droplet lifetime. The nanoparticles accumulating at the droplet edge due to the well-known coffee-ring effect pin the three-phase contact line for an extended time and maintain a large air-water interface area, leading to the increased evaporation rate. We provide a full analytical prediction for the lifetime of a sessile droplet evaporating by the combined pinned-receding mode. A master equation and a master diagram for the droplet lifetime of the combined mode are obtained and experimentally validated, and explain the effect of nanoparticles on increasing the global evaporation rate and decreasing the droplet lifetime.