Eur. Phys. J. E (2016) 39: 22
https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/i2016-16022-9

Regular Article

Solute based Lagrangian scheme in modeling the drying process of soft matter solutions

¹ State Key Laboratory of Theoretical Physics, Institute of Theoretical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100190, Beijing, China
² Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics China, 100190, Beijing, China
³ Center of Soft Matter Physics and its Applications, Beihang University, Beijing, China
⁴ Center for Advanced Study, Tsinghua University, 100084, Beijing, China

^* e-mail: flm@itp.ac.cn
^** e-mail: masao.doi@buaa.edu.cn

Received: 17 July 2015
Accepted: 26 August 2015
Published online: 26 February 2016

Abstract

We develop a new dynamical model to study the drying process of a droplet of soft matter solutions. The model includes the processes of solute diffusion, gel-layer formation and cavity creation. A new scheme is proposed to handle the diffusion dynamics taking place in such processes. In this scheme, the dynamics is described by the motion of material points taken on solute. It is convenient to apply this scheme to solve problems that involve moving boundaries and phase changes. As an example, we show results of a numerical calculation for a drying spherical droplet, and discuss how initial concentration and evaporation rate affect the structural evolution of the droplet.