Issue 25, 2017

Buckling in armored droplets

Abstract

The buckling mechanism in droplets stabilized by solid particles (armored droplets) is tackled at a mesoscopic level using dissipative particle dynamics simulations. We consider one spherical water droplet in a decane solvent coated with nanoparticle monolayers of two different types: Janus (particles whose surface shows two regions with different wetting properties) and homogeneous. The chosen particles yield comparable initial three-phase contact angles, selected to maximize the adsorption energy at the interface. We study the interplay between the evolution of droplet shape, layering of the particles, and their distribution at the interface when the volume of the droplets is reduced. We show that Janus particles affect strongly the shape of the droplet with the formation of a crater-like depression. This evolution is actively controlled by a close-packed particle monolayer at the curved interface. In contrast, homogeneous particles follow passively the volume reduction of the droplet, whose shape does not deviate too much from spherical, even when a nanoparticle monolayer/bilayer transition is detected at the interface. We discuss how these buckled armored droplets might be of relevance in various applications including potential drug delivery systems and biomimetic design of functional surfaces.

Graphical abstract: Buckling in armored droplets

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Communication
Submitted
17 Mar 2017
Accepted
23 May 2017
First published
25 May 2017
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Nanoscale, 2017,9, 8567-8572

Buckling in armored droplets

F. Sicard and A. Striolo, Nanoscale, 2017, 9, 8567 DOI: 10.1039/C7NR01911D

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