Evaporation Mixed Monolayer PCCP (2016) Paper

We explore the dependence of the evaporation coefficient of water from aqueous droplets on the composition of a surface film, considering in particular the influence of monolayer mixed component films on the evaporative mass flux. Measurements with binary component films formed from long chain alcohols, specifically tridecanol (C13H27OH) and pentadecanol (C15H31OH), and tetradecanol (C14H29OH) and hexadecanol (C16H33OH), show that the evaporation coefficient is dependent on the mole fractions of the two components forming the monolayer film. We also show that the addition of a long chain alcohol to an aqueous-sucrose droplet can facilitate control over the degree of dehydration achieved during evaporation. This work was undertaken as part of the NERC grant NE/I020075/1