Liquid Transfer for Viscoelastic Solutions

Viscoelastic liquid transfer from one surface to another is a process that finds applications in many technologies, primarily in printing. Here, cylindrical-shaped capillary bridges pinned between two parallel disks are considered. Specifically, the effects of polymer mass fraction, solution viscosity, disk diameter, initial aspect ratio, final aspect ratio, stretching velocity, and filling fraction (alike contact angle) are experimentally investigated in uniaxial extensional flow. Both Newtonian and viscoelastic polymer solutions are prepared using polyethylene glycol and polyethylene oxide, with a wide variety of mass fractions. The results show that the increase in polymer mass fraction and solvent viscosity reduces the liquid transfer to the top surface. Moreover, the increase in the initial and final stretching heights of the capillary bridge also decreases the liquid transfer for both Newtonian and viscoelastic solutions. Finally, the shape of the capillary bridge is varied by changing the liquid volume. Now, Newtonian and viscoelastic solutions exhibit opposite behaviors for the liquid transfer. These findings are discussed in terms of interfacial shape instability and gravitational drainage.