Eur. Phys. J. Appl. Phys. 92, 11101 (2020)
https://doi.org/10.1051/epjap/2020200168

Regular Article

Experimental investigation of nanoparticles distribution mechanisms and deposition patterns during nanofluid droplet evaporation^★

¹ Tianjin University of Commerce, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Refrigeration Technology, Tianjin 300134, P.R. China
² Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Al. Lotników 32/46, 02-668 Warsaw, Poland

^* e-mail: lbtjcu@tjcu.edu.cn

Received: 3 June 2020
Received in final form: 24 August 2020
Accepted: 14 September 2020
Published online: 16 October 2020

Abstract

Droplet evaporation is fascinating, ubiquitous, and relevant for a wide spectrum of applications, such as printing, drug testing, coating, and biomedical diagnosis. In this paper, the effects of substrate temperature (30 °C, 47 °C, 64 °C, 81 °C) and 20 nm Al₂O₃ nanoparticles mass fraction (0.05%, 0.1%, 0.2%) on the nanoparticles distribution mechanisms and deposition patterns during the evaporation of Al₂O₃-H₂O nanofluid droplet were experimentally investigated. An experimental device was designed and realized. The self-assembly and Marangoni forces were first highlighted and compared. Two coffee-ring and inner-ring patterns were then identified and analyzed. The evaporation process characteristics were finally determined and discussed.