Self-organization of hydrophobic soil and granular surfaces

McHale, G., Shirtcliffe, N.J., Newton, M.I. ORCID: 0000-0003-4231-1002, Pyatt, F.B. and Doerr, S.H., 2007. Self-organization of hydrophobic soil and granular surfaces. Applied Physics Letters, 90 (5): 054110. ISSN 0003-6951

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Abstract

Soil can become extremely water repellent following forest fires or oil spillages, thus preventing penetration of water and increasing run-off 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 wettability compete for water-air interfacial surface area. This can result in a sorting effect with self-organisation of a mixed hydrophobic-hydrophilic aggregate into a hydrophobic shell surrounding a hydrophilic core.

Item Type:	Journal article
Description:	Post-print
Publication Title:	Applied Physics Letters
Creators:	McHale, G., Shirtcliffe, N.J., Newton, M.I., Pyatt, F.B. and Doerr, S.H.
Publisher:	American Institute of Physics
Place of Publication:	Melville, NY
Date:	2007
Volume:	90
Number:	5
ISSN:	0003-6951
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1063/1.2435594 DOI
Rights:	Copyright ©2007 American Institute of Physics
Divisions:	Schools > School of Science and Technology
Record created by:	EPrints Services
Date Added:	09 Oct 2015 09:43
Last Modified:	08 Sep 2022 09:21
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/1678

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