Contact line dynamics of a liquid meniscus advancing in a microchannel with chemical heterogeneities

Abstract

We examine the motion of a liquid meniscus and associated contact lines advancing into a two-/threedimensional microchannel with chemically heterogeneous inner walls. Our study is based on a phase field model of the Cahn-Hilliard type, appropriately modified to take into account the interaction between the fluid and the walls. By solving this model numerically, we can characterise the influence of the chemical disorder of the walls on both the interface and contact line dynamics in terms of contact angle hysteresis and pinning/depinning motion.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe