Monte Carlo simulation of particle size separation in evaporating bi-dispersed colloidal droplets on hydrophilic substrates

Colloidal droplets are used in a variety of practical applications. Some of these applications require particles of different sizes. These include medical diagnostic methods, the creation of photonic crystals, the formation of supraparticles, and the production of membranes for biotechnology. A series of earlier experiments had shown the possibility of particle separation near the contact line, depending upon their size. A mathematical model has been developed to describe this process. Bi-dispersed colloidal droplets evaporating on a hydrophilic substrate are taken into consideration. A particle monolayer is formed near the periphery of such droplets due to the small value of the contact angle. The shape of the resulting deposit is associated with the coffee ring effect. The model takes into account both particle diffusion and transfers caused by capillary flow due to liquid evaporation. Monte Carlo simulations of such particle dynamics have been performed at several values of the particle concentration in the colloidal solution. The numerical results agree with the experimental observations, in which small particles accumulate nearer to the contact line than do the large particles. However, the particles do not actually reach the contact line but accumulate at a small distance from it. The reason for this is the surface tension acting on the particles in areas, where the thickness of the liquid layer is comparable to the particle size. Indeed, the same mechanism affects the observed separation of the small and large particles.