Abstract
The wetting (or dewetting) of a solid by a liquid is an integral part of many important processes such as coating, petroleum recovery, distillation and the handling of liquid fuels in low gravity conditions. Several experiments1–4 have shown that wetting lines (where liquid, air and solid phases meet) which are straight at slow rates of movement over the solid have a sawtooth shape at sufficiently high speeds. We now offer a quantitative explanation for this phenomenon based on the postulate that, for a given system, there is a maximum rate at which wetting can proceed. The consequences of this interpretation are likely to be important, since, in many practical situations, the aim is to maximise the speed of wetting without entraining the displaced phase.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Deryagin, B. V. & Levi, S. M. Film Coating Theory 140–143 (Focal, London, 1964).
Perry, R. T. thesis, Univ. Minnesota (1967).
Burley, R. & Kennedy, B. S. Chem. Engng Sci. 31, 901–911 (1976).
Wilkinson, W. L. Chem. Engng Sci. 30, 1227–1230 (1975).
Blake, T. D. thesis, Univ. Bristol (1968).
Blake, T. D. & Haynes, J. M. J. Colloid Interface Sci. 30, 421–423 (1969).
Glasstone, S., Laidler, K. J. & Eyring, H. The Theory of Rate Processes (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1941).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Blake, T., Ruschak, K. A maximum speed of wetting. Nature 282, 489–491 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1038/282489a0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/282489a0
This article is cited by
-
Manufacturing supported loose-nanofiltration polymeric membranes with eco-friendly solvents on an R2R System
npj Clean Water (2024)
-
Microgravity makes fully mobile droplets measurable
Nature (2022)
-
Experiment on gas-liquid displacement in a capillary
Acta Mechanica Sinica (2022)
-
Scalable deposition of sol–gel based monolayer antireflective thin films by using a dual alkoxysilane precursor chemistry
Journal of Sol-Gel Science and Technology (2022)
-
Liquid film stability and contact line dynamics of emulsion liquid films in curtain coating process
Journal of Coatings Technology and Research (2021)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.