Computational approach to drying a nanoparticle-suspended liquid droplet

We suggest a computational approach for estimating the ring-like deposition of nanoparticles contained in a drying liquid droplet. The proposed method involves a Monte Carlo scheme, based on three independent probabilistic processes: (a) evaporation at the liquid surface, (b) convective motion of nanoparticles to the contact line, and (c) treatment of the nanoparticles floating in the air. According to the computational results, while the liquid is evaporating in nanoparticle-suspended liquid droplet (NSLD), the nanoparticles are moved to the contact line as the mass of droplet decreases linearly with time. Since the resulting ring-like deposition can be accounted for in terms of nanoparticle mobility and liquid evaporation from the droplet, our computational approach achieves a morphological and kinematical description of NSLD drying. Some other important features, such as self-pinning of the contact line, reduction of the droplet radius, and pattern formation, are also obtained from this simulation.