Dynamics of surfactant-assisted spreading

Abstract

The presence of surface-active molecules at interfaces reduces the surface tension, and this property is exploited to drive the spreading of fluid films on the surface of liquid and solid substrates. Surfactant-assisted spreading gives rise to fascinating phenomena that involve complex dynamics and pattern formation; as a result, it has received considerable attention in the literature. This article provides a review of previous work and highlights the important open problems in this area.