Regensburg 2022 – scientific programme

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DY: Fachverband Dynamik und Statistische Physik

DY 38: Complex Fluids and Soft Matter 2 (joint session DY/CPP)

DY 38.4: Talk

Thursday, September 8, 2022, 10:45–11:00, H18

Coarsening dynamics of quasi 2D emulsions in free-standing smectic films — •Christoph Klopp, Torsten Trittel, and Ralf Stannarius — Institute for Physics, Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg, Germany

Hydrodynamic phenomena in thin films play a crucial role in biological systems, in nature and modern technology. Various experimental and theoretical studies explored, e.g., the motion of objects in quasi two-dimensional films [1], the merging of inclusions [2-4] and the structural change of emulsions during long-term observations. Here, we demonstrate and describe the coarsening dynamics of emulsions formed by smectic islands (flat circular regions) on liquid crystal bubbles in microgravity at the International Space Station (ISS). The smectic islands form polydisperse, disordered arrangements representing quasi 2D emulsions. We analyze the time evolution of these ensembles that proceed through direct island coalescence or the exchange of material through the background film (Ostwald ripening). Coarsening is ubiquitous in liquid emulsions and foams, and important for their stability. We compare our results with such systems and analyze the dominant process for the 2D coarsening dynamics.

Acknowledgements: This study was supported by NASA, DFG and DLR within the OASIS and OASIS-Co projects.

References: [1] A. Eremin et al., Phys. Rev. Lett., 107, 268301 (2011) [2] N. S. Shuravin et al., Phys. Rev. E, 99, 062702 (2019) [3] Z. H. Nguyen et al., Phys. Rev. Research, 3, 033143 (2021) [4] C. Klopp et al., Soft Matter 16 4607 (2020)