Microscale Janus
particles have versatile potential applications
in many physical and biomedical fields, such as microsensor, micromotor,
and drug delivery. Here, we present a phase-field approach of multicomponent
and multiphase to investigate the Janus droplet formation via thermally
induced phase separation. The crucial kinetics for the formation of
Janus droplets consisting of two polymer species and a solvent component
via an interplay of both diffusion and convection is considered in
the Cahn–Hilliard–Navier–Stokes equation. The
simulation results of the phase-field model show that unequal interfacial
tensions between the two polymer species and the solvent result in
asymmetric phase separation in the formation process of Janus droplets.
This asymmetric phase separation plays a vital role in the establishment
of the so-called core–shell structure that has been observed
in previous experiments. By varying the droplet size, the surface
tension, and the molecular interaction between the polymer species,
several novel droplet morphologies are predicted in the development
process of Janus droplets. Moreover, we stress that the hydrodynamics
should be reckoned as a non-negligible mechanism that not only accelerates
the Janus droplet evolution but also has great impacts on the coarsening
and coalescence of the Janus droplets.
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