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arXiv · 2106.14221

Can a liquid drop on a substrate be in equilibrium with saturated vapor?

E. S. Benilov
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Abstract

It is well-known that liquid and saturated vapor, separated by a flat interface in an unbounded space, are in equilibrium. One would similarly expect a liquid drop, sitting on a flat substrate, to be in equilibrium with the vapor surrounding it. Yet, it is not: as shown in this work, the drop evaporates. Mathematically, this conclusion is deduced using the diffuse-interface model, but it can also be reformulated in terms of the maximum-entropy principle, suggesting model independence. Physically, evaporation of drops is due to the so-called Kelvin effect, which gives rise to a liquid-to-vapor mass flux in all cases where the boundary of the liquid phase is convex.

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E. S. Benilov. 2021-06-27. Can a liquid drop on a substrate be in equilibrium with saturated vapor?. https://doi.org/10.1103/physreve.104.l032103

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