Dynamics of Complete Evaporation of a Sessile Droplet of 1-Propanol–Water Solution at Different Ambient Humidities

Abstract

Experimental data have been obtained on the complete diffusion evaporation of a sessile microdroplet of an aqueous 1-propanol solution on a hydrophobized polished quartz substrate in air at atmospheric pressure and room temperature. During the evaporation of the sessile droplet, time dependences have been determined for its key thermodynamic and geometric parameters, i.e., the contact angle, base surface area, and volume. It has been revealed that the character of time variations in the contact angle depends on the initial alcohol concentration in the droplet and air humidity. At a high alcohol concentration and a low air humidity, the droplet contact angle monotonically decreases throughout the evaporation process. The contact angle of a solution droplet with a prevailing content of water varies in several stages. In this case, the monotonic reduction in the contact angle is, at a certain moment, replaced by a stage of its growth. The comparison of the maximum contact angle of an evaporating droplet with the contact angle of a sessile droplet of pure water enables one to determine the amount of alcohol in a studied droplet by the end of this stage. The residual alcohol amount governs the subsequent evolution of the droplet up to its complete evaporation.