July 18, 2024 | He Yan, Lei Wang, Jiangxu Huang, Yuan Yu
This paper investigates the thermocapillary migration of a self-rewetting droplet on an inclined surface using a phase-field based lattice Boltzmann method. Unlike normal fluids, the self-rewetting fluid has a quadratic temperature dependence of surface tension with a defined minimum. The study explores the effects of the Marangoni number, surface wettability, and viscosity ratio on droplet migration. Results show that as the Marangoni number increases, the droplet deforms and migrates faster. On hydrophilic surfaces, the droplet moves towards regions of higher surface energy, while on hydrophobic surfaces, it moves in the opposite direction. The migration speed decreases with increasing viscosity ratio, and two vortices appear inside the droplet at high viscosity ratios. The study also finds that the droplet's migration direction is influenced by surface wettability and the inclination angle of the surface. On hydrophilic surfaces, only one vortex is present, while on hydrophobic surfaces, two vortices form. The results demonstrate the importance of considering surface inclination and wettability in understanding droplet migration on inclined surfaces. The phase-field lattice Boltzmann method is validated and used to simulate the thermocapillary migration of self-rewetting droplets on inclined surfaces. The study highlights the significance of thermocapillary migration in microfluidics, material synthesis, DNA analysis, and disease diagnosis.This paper investigates the thermocapillary migration of a self-rewetting droplet on an inclined surface using a phase-field based lattice Boltzmann method. Unlike normal fluids, the self-rewetting fluid has a quadratic temperature dependence of surface tension with a defined minimum. The study explores the effects of the Marangoni number, surface wettability, and viscosity ratio on droplet migration. Results show that as the Marangoni number increases, the droplet deforms and migrates faster. On hydrophilic surfaces, the droplet moves towards regions of higher surface energy, while on hydrophobic surfaces, it moves in the opposite direction. The migration speed decreases with increasing viscosity ratio, and two vortices appear inside the droplet at high viscosity ratios. The study also finds that the droplet's migration direction is influenced by surface wettability and the inclination angle of the surface. On hydrophilic surfaces, only one vortex is present, while on hydrophobic surfaces, two vortices form. The results demonstrate the importance of considering surface inclination and wettability in understanding droplet migration on inclined surfaces. The phase-field lattice Boltzmann method is validated and used to simulate the thermocapillary migration of self-rewetting droplets on inclined surfaces. The study highlights the significance of thermocapillary migration in microfluidics, material synthesis, DNA analysis, and disease diagnosis.