Morphological Transitions of Droplets Wetting a Series of Triangular Grooves

Morphology and thermodynamics of a microdroplet deposited on a grooved inhomogeneous surface with triangular cross section of the grooves were studied by computer simulations with the use of Surface Evolver program. With increasing volume of the droplet, it initially spreads along the series of grooves assuming the filament-like morphology. After reaching a certain volume, the surface wetted by the droplet is reduced and the droplet assumes the bulge morphology or spreads over the surface bordering on the groove initially occupied (it can be either a neighboring groove or a flat surface). The character of the process is determined by the geometry of the edge of the inhomogeneity studied. The effect described also depends on the number of grooves G and the Young contact angle θ Y. The change in the shape of the droplet becomes more pronounced with decreasing θ Y and G. Above a certain number of grooves, in the range of contact angles studied (e.g., G > 6 if θ Y = 70° and G > 4 if θ Y = 75°), no morphological transition of the droplet was observed.