Molecular Dynamics Simulation of the Superspreading of Surfactant-Laden Droplets. A Review
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Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Al. Lotników 32/46, 02-668 Warsaw, Poland
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Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Brunel University London, Uxbridge, Middlesex UB8 3PH, UK
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Department of Mathematics, Imperial College London, Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London SW7 2AZ, UK
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Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London, Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London SW7 2AZ, UK
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Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Fluids 2019, 4(4), 176; https://doi.org/10.3390/fluids4040176
Received: 5 September 2019
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Revised: 20 September 2019
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Accepted: 27 September 2019
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Published: 1 October 2019
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Coupled Flow and Heat or Mass Transport)
Superspreading is the rapid and complete spreading of surfactant-laden droplets on hydrophobic substrates. This phenomenon has been studied for many decades by experiment, theory, and simulation, but it has been only recently that molecular-level simulation has provided significant insights into the underlying mechanisms of superspreading thanks to the development of accurate force-fields and the increase of computational capabilities. Here, we review the main advances in this area that have surfaced from Molecular Dynamics simulation of all-atom and coarse-grained models highlighting and contrasting the main results and discussing various elements of the proposed mechanisms for superspreading. We anticipate that this review will stimulate further research on the interpretation of experimental results and the design of surfactants for applications requiring efficient spreading, such as coating technology.
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Keywords:
superspreading; surfactant-laden droplets; molecular dynamics simulation; all-atom models; coarse-grained models; molecular mechanisms; spreading; adsorption; superspreaders; water droplets
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MDPI and ACS Style
Theodorakis, P.E.; Smith, E.R.; Craster, R.V.; Müller, E.A.; Matar, O.K. Molecular Dynamics Simulation of the Superspreading of Surfactant-Laden Droplets. A Review. Fluids 2019, 4, 176. https://doi.org/10.3390/fluids4040176
AMA Style
Theodorakis PE, Smith ER, Craster RV, Müller EA, Matar OK. Molecular Dynamics Simulation of the Superspreading of Surfactant-Laden Droplets. A Review. Fluids. 2019; 4(4):176. https://doi.org/10.3390/fluids4040176
Chicago/Turabian StyleTheodorakis, Panagiotis E., Edward R. Smith, Richard V. Craster, Erich A. Müller, and Omar K. Matar. 2019. "Molecular Dynamics Simulation of the Superspreading of Surfactant-Laden Droplets. A Review" Fluids 4, no. 4: 176. https://doi.org/10.3390/fluids4040176
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