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The main causes of energy dissipation in micro- and nano-scale wetting are viscosity and liquid-solid friction localized in the three-phase contact line region. Theoretical models predict the contactline friction coefficient to correlate with the shear viscosity of the wetting fluid. Experiments conducted to investigate such correlation have not singled out a unique scaling law between the two coefficients. We perform Molecular Dynamics simulations of liquid water-glycerol droplets wetting silica-like surfaces, aimed to demystify the effect of viscosity on contact line friction. The viscosity of the fluid is tuned by changing the relative mass fraction of glycerol in the mixture and it is estimated both via equilibrium and non-equilibrium Molecular Dynamics simulations. Contact line friction is measured directly by inspecting the velocity of the moving contact line and the microscopic contact angle. It is found that the scaling between contact line friction and viscosity is sub-linear, contrary to the prediction of Molecular Kinetic Theory. The disagreement is explained by accounting for the depletion of glycerol in the near-wall region. A correction is proposed, based on multicomponent Molecular Kinetic Theory and the definition of a re-scaled interfacial friction coefficient.

The motion of three-phase contact lines is one of the most relevant research topics of micro- and nano-fluidics. According to many hydrodynamic and molecular models, the dynamics of contact lines is assumed overdamped and dominated by localised liquid-solid friction, entailing the existence of a mobility relation between contact line speed and microscopic contact angle. We present and discuss a set of non-equilibrium atomistic Molecular Dynamics simulations of water nanodroplets spreading on or confined between silica-like walls, showing the existence of the aforementioned relation and its invariance under wetting modes (`spontaneous' or `forced'). Upon changing the wettability of the walls, it has been noticed that more hydrophilic substrates are easier to wet rather than de-wet; we show how this asymmetry can be automatically captured by a contact line friction model that accounts for the molecular transport between liquid layers. A simple examination of the order and orientation of near-contact-line water molecules corroborates the physical foundation of the model. Lastly, we propose an approach to discriminate between contact line friction models which overcomes the limitations of experimental resolution. This work constitutes a stepping stone towards demystifying wetting dynamics on high-friction hydrophilic substrates and underlines the relevance of contact line friction in modelling the motion of three-phase contact lines., Comment: 11 pages (double column), 11 figures, submitted to Physics of Fluids

The motion of the three-phase contact line between two immiscible fluids and a solid surface arises in a variety of wetting phenomena and technological applications. One challenge in continuum theory is the effective representation of molecular phenomena close to the contact line. Here, we characterize the molecular processes of the moving contact line to assess the accuracy of two different continuum two-phase models. Specifically, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of a two-dimensional droplet between two moving plates are used to create reference data for different capillary numbers and contact angles. We use a simple-point-charge/extended (SPC/E) water model with particle-mesh Ewald electrostatics treatment. This model provides a very small slip and a more realistic representation of the molecular physics than Lennards-Jones models. The Cahn-Hilliard phase-field model and the Volume-of-Fluid model are calibrated against the drop displacement from MD reference data. It is demonstrated that the calibrated continuum models can accurately capture droplet displacement and droplet breakup for different capillary numbers and contact angles. However, we also observe differences between continuum and atomistic simulations in describing the transient and unsteady droplet behavior, in particular, close to dynamical wetting transitions. The molecular dynamics of the sheared droplet provide insight of the line friction experienced by the advancing and receding contact lines and evidence of large-scale temporal "stick-slip" like oscillations. The presented results will serve as a stepping stone towards developing accurate continuum models for nanoscale hydrodynamics., Comment: 45 pages, 23 figures, 4 tables, 1 supplementary PDF, 2 supplementary movies, 1 supplementary archive, accepted for publication in "Journal of Fluid Mechanics"