Issue |
EPL
Volume 102, Number 3, May 2013
|
|
---|---|---|
Article Number | 39002 | |
Number of page(s) | 5 | |
Section | Geophysics, Astronomy and Astrophysics | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1209/0295-5075/102/39002 | |
Published online | 22 May 2013 |
Annular cracks in thin films of nanoparticle suspensions drying on a fiber
CNRS, Univ Pierre et Marie Curie, Univ Paris-Sud, Lab FAST, Bat 502, Campus Univ Orsay 91405, France, EU
Received: 28 February 2013
Accepted: 30 April 2013
We report an experimental study of the crack pattern formed during the drying of a colloidal suspension. A horizontal fiber, which provides a one-dimensional, boundary-free substrate, is coated by a film of micronic thickness. The geometry imposes a remarkable annular crack pattern and allows precise measurements of the crack spacing over a short range of film thickness (between 2 and 10 μm) which varies linearly with the film height. We compare our experimental data with a model proposed by Kitsunezaki which suggests that the variation of the crack spacing with the film thickness depends on the ratio between a critical stress at cracking and a critical stress for slipping on the substrate. By measuring the friction force of the colloidal gels on a hydrophobic surface through a cantilever technique, we can deduce the critical crack stress for these colloidal gels simply by measuring the crack spacing of the pattern.
PACS: 91.60.Ba – Elasticity, fracture, and flow / 83.80.Hj – Suspensions, dispersions, pastes, slurries, colloids / 62.20.M- – Structural failure of materials
© EPLA, 2013
Current usage metrics show cumulative count of Article Views (full-text article views including HTML views, PDF and ePub downloads, according to the available data) and Abstracts Views on Vision4Press platform.
Data correspond to usage on the plateform after 2015. The current usage metrics is available 48-96 hours after online publication and is updated daily on week days.
Initial download of the metrics may take a while.