The presence of dispersed inclusions is known to modify the interfacial characteristics in liquids by adsorption–desorption of the ions at interfaces. The present article reports the influencing role of dissolved ions in a polar fluid on its evaporation dynamics. The evaporation dynamics of pendant droplets of aqueous solutions of variant simple salts and concentrations have been experimentally studied. The presence of salts is observed to enhance the evaporation rate (obeying the classical D2 law), and the enhancement has been found to hold a direct proportionality to the concentration of the dissolved salt. Furthermore, it is observed that the degree of enhancement in the evaporation rate is also directly proportional to the solubility of the salt in question. The phenomenon is explained based on the chemical kinetics and thermodynamics of hydration of the ionic species in the polar fluid. The classical evaporation rate constant formulation is found to be inadequate in modeling the enhanced species transport. Additional probing via particle image velocimetry reveals augmented internal circulation within the evaporating salt based drops compared to pure water. Mapping the dynamic surface tension reveals that a salt concentration gradient is generated between the bulk and periphery of the droplet and it could be responsible for the internal advection cells visualized. A thermo-solutal Marangoni and Rayleigh convection based mathematical formulation has been put forward, and it is shown that the enhanced solute-thermal convection could play a major role in enhanced evaporation. The internal circulation mapped from experiments is found to be in good quantitative agreement with the model predictions. Scaling analysis further reveals that the stability of the solutal Marangoni convection surpasses the thermal counterpart with higher salt concentration and solubility. The present article sheds insight into the possible domineering role of conjugate thermohydraulic and mass transport phenomena on the evaporation kinetics aqueous droplets with ionic inclusions.

The microwave-synthesized reduced graphene oxide (MRG), boron-doped reduced graphene oxide (B-MRG), nitrogen-doped reduced graphene oxide (N-MRG), boron-nitrogen-co-doped reduced graphene oxide (B-N-MRG), and TiO2-reinforced B-N-MRG (TiO2-B-N-MRG) nanomaterials have been synthesized and characterized by various state-of-the-art techniques, like Raman spectroscopy, powder X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Furthermore, the tribological properties of prepared nanomaterials as antiwear additives in neutral paraffin oil have been evaluated using a four-ball machine at an optimized additive concentration (0.15% w/v). The tribological parameters, like mean wear scar diameter, coefficient of friction, and wear rates, revealed that these nanomaterials have potential to be developed as environmentally friendly sulfated-ash-, phosphorus-, and sulfur-free antiwear lubricant additives. The friction- and wear-reducing behavior of MRG increased upon successive doping of nitrogen, boron, and both nitrogen and boron. Among these additives, B-N-co-doped MRG shows superior tribological behavior in paraffin base oil. Besides this, the load-carrying properties of B-N-co-doped MRG have significantly improved after its reinforcement with TiO2 nanoparticles. A comparative study of the surface morphology of a lubricated track in the presence of various additives has been assessed by SEM and contact-mode atomic force microscopy. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy studies have proved that the excellent lubrication properties of TiO2-B-N-MRG are due to the in situ formation of a tribofilm composed of boron nitride, adsorbed graphene layers, and tribosintered TiO2 nanoparticles during the tribocontact. Being sulfur-, halogen-, and phosphorus-free, these graphene-based nanomaterials act as green antiwear additives, protecting interacting surfaces significantly from wear and tear.

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Evaporation kinetics of pendant droplets is an area of immense importance in several applications, in addition to possessing rich fluid dynamics and thermal transport physics. This article experimentally and analytically sheds insight into the augmented evaporation dynamics of paramagnetic pendant droplets in the presence of a magnetic field stimulus. The literature provides information that solutal advection and the solutal Marangoni effect lead to enhanced evaporation in droplets with solvated ions. The main focus of this article is to modulate the thermosolutal advection with the aid of an external magnetic field and comprehend the dynamics of the evaporation process under such complex multiphysics interactions. Experimental observations reveal that the evaporation rate enhances as a direct function of the magnetic moment of the solvated magnetic element ions, thereby pointing at the magnetophoretic and magnetosolutal advection. Additionally, flow visualization by particle image velocimetry illustrates that the internal advection currents within the droplet increase in magnitude and are distorted in orientation by the magnetic field. A mathematical formalism based on magnetothermal and magnetosolutal advection has been proposed via scaling analysis of the species and energy conservation equations. The formalism takes into account all major governing factors, viz., the magnetothermal and magnetosolutal Marangoni numbers, magneto-Prandtl and magneto-Schmidt numbers, and the Hartmann number. The modeling establishes the magnetosolutal advection to be the dominant factor behind the augmented evaporation dynamics. Accurate validation of the experimental internal circulation velocity is obtained from the proposed model. This study reveals rich insight into the magnetothermosolutal hydrodynamics in paramagnetic droplets.

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