K. Kolwas

Evaporation of freely suspended single droplets: experimental, theoretical and computational simulations

Evaporation is ubiquitous in nature. This process influences the climate, the formation of clouds, transpiration in plants, the survival of arctic organisms, the efficiency of car engines, the structure of dried materials and many other phenomena. Recent experiments discovered two novel mechanisms accompanying evaporation: temperature discontinuity at the liquid-vapour interface during evaporation and equilibration of pressures in the whole system during evaporation. None of these effects has been predicted previously by existing theories despite the fact that after 130 years of investigation the theory of evaporation was believed to be mature. These two effects call for reanalysis of existing experimental data and such is the goal of this review. In this article we analyse the experimental and the computational simulation data on the droplet evaporation of several different systems: water into its own vapour, water into the air, diethylene glycol into nitrogen and argon into its own vapour. We show that the temperature discontinuity at the liquid-vapour interface discovered by Fang and Ward (1999 Phys. Rev. E 59 417-28) is a rule rather than an exception. We show in computer simulations for a single-component system (argon) that this discontinuity is due to the constraint of momentum/pressure equilibrium during evaporation. For high vapour pressure the temperature is continuous across the liquid-vapour interface, while for small vapour pressures the temperature is discontinuous. The temperature jump at the interface is inversely proportional to the vapour density close to the interface. We have also found that all analysed data are described by the following equation: da/dt = P(1)/(a + P(2)), where a is the radius of the evaporating droplet, t is time and P(1) and P(2) are two parameters. P(1) = -λΔT/(q(eff)ρ(L)), where λ is the thermal conductivity coefficient in the vapour at the interface, ΔT is the temperature difference between the liquid droplet and the vapour far from the interface, q(eff) is the enthalpy of evaporation per unit mass and ρ(L) is the liquid density. The P(2) parameter is the kinetic correction proportional to the evaporation coefficient. P(2) = 0 only in the absence of temperature discontinuity at the interface. We discuss various models and problems in the determination of the evaporation coefficient and discuss evaporation scenarios in the case of single- and multi-component systems.

Temperature dependence of the evaporation coefficient of water in air and nitrogen under atmospheric pressure: study in water droplets.

The evaporation coefficients of water in air and nitrogen were found as a function of temperature by studying the evaporation of a pure water droplet. The droplet was levitated in an electrodynamic trap placed in a climatic chamber maintaining atmospheric pressure. Droplet radius evolution and evaporation dynamics were studied with high precision by analyzing the angle-resolved light scattering Mie interference patterns. A model of quasi-stationary droplet evolution accounting for the kinetic effects near the droplet surface was applied. In particular, the effect of thermal effusion (a short-range analogue of thermal diffusion) was discussed and accounted for. The evaporation coefficient alpha in air and in nitrogen were found to be equal. The alpha was found to decrease from approximately 0.18 to approximately 0.13 for the temperature range from 273.1 to 293.1 K and follow the trend given by the Arrhenius formula. The agreement with condensation coefficient values obtained with an essentially different method by Li et al. [Li, Y.; Davidovits, P.; Shi, Q.; Jayne, J.; Kolb, C.; Worsnop, D. J. Phys. Chem. A. 2001, 105, 10627] was found to be excellent. The comparison of experimental conditions used in both methods revealed no dependence of the evaporation/condensation coefficient on the droplet charge nor the ambient gas pressure within the experimental parameters range. The average value of the thermal accommodation coefficient over the same temperature range was found to be 1 +/- 0.05.

Dynamic Phase Transition in Amorphous YBaCuO Films under Ar Laser Irradiation

The effect of laser irradiation (Ar laser, λ = 488 nm) on the atomic order and electronic structure of amorphous YBaCuO films is studied. It is shown that the laser irradiation of amorphous YBaCuO films leads to a sequence of processes having an oscillating character: energy accumulation (Iincoh → max), accompanied by stronger atomic disordering, and relaxation (Jcoh → max) due to atomic ordering and a change in the predominant cluster configuration, (11l) – (10l), at incident powers above 2 W. This corresponds to a local topological ordering of the solid solution with the participation of copper–oxygen chains, accompanied by an increase in conductivity by two orders of magnitude.

Coefficients of Evaporation and Gas Phase Diffusion of Low-Volatility Organic Solvents in Nitrogen from Interferometric Study of Evaporating Droplets

Evaporation of motionless, levitating droplets of pure, low-volatility liquids was studied with interferometric methods. Experiments were conducted on charged droplets in the electrodynamic trap in nitrogen at atmospheric pressure at 298 K. Mono-, di-, tri-, and tetra(ethylene glycols) and 1,3-dimethyl-2-imidazolidinone were studied. The influence of minute impurities (<0.1%) upon the process of droplet evaporation was observed and discussed. The gas phase diffusion and evaporation coefficients were found from droplet radii evolution under the assumption of known vapor pressure. Diffusion coefficients were compared with independent measurements and calculations (in air). Good agreement was found for mono- and di(ethylene glycols), and for 1,3-dimethyl-2-imidazolidinone, which confirmed the used vapor pressure values. The value of equilibrium vapor pressure for tri(ethylene glycol) was proposed to be 0.044 +/- 0.008 Pa. The evaporation coefficient was found to increase from 0.035 to 0.16 versus the molecular mass of the compound.

Dielectric Function for Gold in Plasmonics Applications: Size Dependence of Plasmon Resonance Frequencies and Damping Rates for Nanospheres

Realistic representation of the frequency dependence of dielectric function of noble metals has a significant impact on the accuracy of description of their optical properties and farther applications in plasmonics, nanoscience, and nanotechnology. Drude-type models successfully used in describing material properties of silver, for gold are known to be not perfect above the threshold energy at 1.8 eV. We give the improved, simple dielectric function for gold which accounts for the frequency dependence of the interband transitions over 1.8 eV and, in addition, for the finite size effects in gold nanoparticles. On that basis, we provide the improved characterization of the spectral performance of gold nanoparticles. Furthermore, we give the direct size dependence of the resonance frequencies and total damping rates of localized surface plasmons of gold nanoparticles (retardation effects are taken into full account) in diverse dielectric environments. The results are compared to the data obtained experimentally for gold monodisperse colloidal nanospheres, as well with the experimental results of other authors.

Plasmonic abilities of gold and silver spherical nanoantennas in terms of size dependent multipolar resonance frequencies and plasmon damping rates

Absorbing and emitting optical properties of a spherical plasmonic nanoantenna are described in terms of the size dependent resonance frequencies and damping rates of the multipolar surface plasmons (SP). We provide the plasmon size characteristics for gold and silver spherical particles up to the large size retardation regime where the plasmon radiative damping is significant. We underline the role of the radiation damping in comparison with the energy dissipation damping in formation of receiving and transmitting properties of a plasmonic particle. The size dependence of both: the multipolar SP resonance frequencies and corresponding damping rates can be a convenient tool in tailoring the characteristics of plasmonic nanoantennas for given application. Such characteristics enable to control an operation frequency of a plasmonic nanoantenna and to change the operation range from the spectrally broad to spectrally narrow and vice versa. It is also possible to switch between particle receiving (enhanced absorption) and emitting (enhanced scattering) abilities. Changing the polarization geometry of observation it is possible to effectively separate the dipole and the quadrupole plasmon radiation from all the non-plasmonic contributions to the scattered light.

Dipole and quadrupole surface plasmon resonance contributions in formation of near-field images of a gold nanosphere

Multipolar plasmon optical excitations at spherical gold nanoparticles and their manifestations in the particle images formatted in the particle surface proximity are studied. The multipolar plasmon size characteristic: plasmon resonance frequencies and plasmon damping rates were obtained within rigorous size dependent modelling. The realistic, frequency dependent dielectric function of a metal was used. The distribution of light intensity and of electric field radial component at the flat square scanning plane scattered by a gold sphere of radius 95 nm was acquired. The images resulted from the spatial distribution of the full mean Poynting vector including near-field radial components of the scattered electromagnetic field. Monochromatic images at frequencies close to and equal to the plasmon dipole and quadrupole resonance frequencies are discussed. The changes in images and radial components of the scattered electromagnetic field distribution at the scanning plane moved away from the particle surface from near-field to far-field region are discussed.

Simultaneous determination of mass and thermal accommodation coefficients from temporal evolution of an evaporating water microdroplet

Scattering of coherent light by an evaporating droplet of pure water several micrometres in size was investigated. The droplet was levitated in an electrodynamic trap placed in a small climatic chamber. The evolution of the droplet radius and the evolution dynamics were investigated by means of analysing the scattering patterns with the aid of Mie theory. A numerical model of droplet evolution, incorporating the kinetic effects near the droplet surface, was constructed. Application of this model to the experimental data allowed us to determine the mass and thermal accommodation coefficients to be αC = 0.12 ± 0.02 and αT = 0.65 ± 0.09, respectively. This model enabled us to determine with high precision the temperature evolution of the droplet and the relative humidity in the droplet vicinity.

Temperature Dependence of Evaporation Coefficient for Water Measured in Droplets in Nitrogen under Atmospheric Pressure

Abstract The evaporation and the thermal accommodation coefficients for water in nitrogen were investigated by means of the analysis of evaporation of pure water droplet as a function of temperature. The droplet was levitated in an electrodynamic trap placed in a climatic chamber. The levitation time was in the range of seconds, which corresponds to the characteristic time scales of cloud droplet growth. Droplet radius evolution and evaporation dynamics were studied as a function of temperature, by analyzing the angle-resolved light scattering Mie interference patterns. A model of droplet evolution, accounting for the kinetic effects near the droplet surface, was applied. The evaporation coefficient for the temperature range from 273.6 to 298.3 K was found to be between 0.054 and 0.12 with a minimum of 0.036 ± 0.015 seemingly coinciding with water maximum density at 277.1 K. The average value of thermal accommodation coefficient over the temperature range from 277 to 289 K was found to be 0.7 ± 0.2.

Study of microscopic properties of water fullerene suspensions by means of resonant light scattering analysis

Scattering of coherent light by a droplet of water fullerene suspension was investigated. Two light wavelengths were used simultaneously. The evolution of the radius and refractive index of a droplet was examined. Resonant scattering was detected and analysed by means of a simple model and some conclusions were drawn on the microscopic properties of the suspension. The study was supplemented with atomic force microscopy measurements of samples obtained by drying the suspension.