Accelerated spreading of inviscid droplets prompted by the yielding of strongly elastic interfacial films

The complexity associated with droplets spreading on surfaces has attracted significant interest for several decades. Sustained activity results from the many natural and manufactured systems that are reliant on droplet-substrate interactions and spreading. Interfacial shear rheology and its influence on the dynamics of droplet spreading has to date received little attention. In the current study, saponin β-aescin was used as an interfacial shear rheology modifier, partitioning at the air-water interface to form a strongly elastic interface (G’/G” ∼ 6) within 1 min aging. The droplet spreading dynamics of Newtonian (water, 5 wt% ethanol, 0.0015 wt% N-dodecyl β-D-glucopyranoside) and non-Newtonian (xanthan gum) fluids were shown to proceed with a time-dependent power-law dependence of ∼0.50 and ∼0.10 (Tanner’s law) in the inertial and viscous regimes of spreading, respectively. However, water droplets stabilized by saponin β-aescin were shown to accelerate droplet spreading in the inertial regime with a depreciating time-dependent power-law of 1.05 and 0.61, eventually exhibiting a power-law dependence of ∼ 0.10 in the viscous regime of spreading. The accelerated rate of spreading is attributed to the potential energy as the interfacial film yields as well as relaxation of the crumpled interfacial film during spreading. Even though the strongly elastic film ruptures to promote droplet spreading, interfacial elasticity is retained enhancing the dampening of droplet oscillations following detachment from the dispensing capillary.