Eur. Phys. J. E (2004) 14: 293-298
https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/i2004-10016-2

Spreading dynamics of 2D dipolar Langmuir monolayer phases

¹ Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The Florida State University, FL 32306, Tallahassee, USA
² Pentapharm GmbH Diagnostic Division, Kreillerstrasse 21, 81673, Munich, Germany

^* e-mail: tfischer@chem.fsu.edu

Abstract

We study the spreading of a liquid 2D dipolar droplet in a Langmuir monolayer. Interfacial tensions (line tensions) and microscopic contact angles depend on the scale on which they are probed and obey a scaling law. Assuming rapid equilibration of the microscopic contact angle and ideal slippage of the 2D solid/liquid and solid/gas boundary, the driving force of spreading is merely expressed by the shape-dependent long-range interaction integrals. We obtain good agreement between experiment and numerical simulations using this theory.