Confined colloidal droplets dry to form circular mazes
During drying, particle-laden sessile droplets will leave so-called coffee-stain rings behind. This phenomenon is well known and well understood (Deegan <i>et al</i>., <i>Nature</i> <b>389</b>, 827-829 (1997). Here, we show that when particle-laden droplets confined in a slit are allowed to evaporate very slowly, they do not deposit coffee rings, but form surprisingly intricate, circular maze-like patterns. We present experiments that illustrate this pattern formation and discuss the factors that determine when such patterns can form. We are not aware of reports of natural examples of the formation of such beautiful patterns under confinement, although it seems likely that they exist.
Authors
- Eirik G. Flekkøy
- Natalya Kizilova (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9981-7616)
- Erika Eiser (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2881-8157)
- Andreas Andersen Hennig (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-7648-6478)
- Ilaria Beechey-Newman
Institutions
- Warsaw University of Technology (PL)
- Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology (US)
- University of Oslo (NO)
- Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NO)
- University of Cambridge (GB)
- China Aerodynamics Research and Development Center (CN)
- V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University (UA)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 2025-08-04
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2508363122
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Nanomaterials and Printing Technologies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.73
Funders
- Norges Forskningsråd
- HORIZON EUROPE Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions