Dufresne ER, Corwin EI, Greenblatt NA, Ashmore J, Wang DY, Dinsmore AD, Cheng JX, Xie XS, Hutchinson JW, Weitz DA. Flow and fracture in drying nanoparticle suspensions.
Phys Rev Lett 2003;
91:224501. [PMID:
14683242 DOI:
10.1103/physrevlett.91.224501]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 180] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2003] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
Drying aqueous suspensions of monodisperse silica nanoparticles can fracture in remarkable patterns. As the material solidifies, evenly spaced cracks invade from the drying surface, with individual cracks undergoing intermittent motion. We show that the growth of cracks is limited by the advancement of the compaction front, which is governed by a balance of evaporation and flow of fluid at the drying surface. Surprisingly, the macroscopic dynamics of drying show signatures of molecular-scale fluid effects.
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