Self-organization of hydrophobic soil and granular surfaces

McHale, Glen, Shirtcliffe, Neil, Newton, Michael, Pyatt, F. Brian and Doerr, Stefan (2007) Self-organization of hydrophobic soil and granular surfaces. Applied Physics Letters, 90 (5). 054110. ISSN 0003-6951

[img]
Preview
PDF (Postprint)
Postprint_McHale_APL_vol_90_art_054110_2007.pdf - Accepted Version

Download (478kB) | Preview
Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.2435594

Abstract

Soil can become extremely water repellent following forest fires or oil spillages, thus preventing penetration of water and increasing runoff and soil erosion. Here the authors show that evaporation of a droplet from the surface of a hydrophobic granular material can be an active process, lifting, self-coating, and selectively concentrating small solid grains. Droplet evaporation leads to the formation of temporary liquid marbles and, as droplet volume reduces, particles of different wettabilities compete for water-air interfacial surface area. This can result in a sorting effect with self-organization of a mixed hydrophobic-hydrophilic aggregate into a hydrophobic shell surrounding a hydrophilic core.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: granular, soil, water repellence, hydrophobic, evaporation, superhydrophobic
Subjects: F100 Chemistry
F200 Materials Science
F300 Physics
F800 Physical and Terrestrial Geographical and Environmental Sciences
Department: Faculties > Engineering and Environment > Mathematics, Physics and Electrical Engineering
Depositing User: Glen McHale
Date Deposited: 16 Aug 2012 16:04
Last Modified: 17 Dec 2023 12:47
URI: https://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/8319

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

View more statistics