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Spontaneous Coulomb fissions of drops on lubricated surfaces.

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Title: Spontaneous Coulomb fissions of drops on lubricated surfaces.
Authors: Lin, Marcus1,2, Zhang, Peng1, Ratschow, Aaron D.3, Li, Oscar1, Arunachalam, Sankara1, Daniel, Dan1,2 dan-daniel@oist.jp
Source: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 5/5/2026, Vol. 123 Issue 18, p1-8. 8p.
Subjects: Microdroplets, Scission (Chemistry), Solid-liquid interfaces, Nanotechnology, Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, Evaporation (Chemistry)
Abstract: Charged water drops are more widespread than commonly acknowledged. For example, raindrops typically carry charges of order Q ~ 1 pC, while routine pipetting in the laboratory produces drops with Q ~ 50 pC. Here, we show that such modest charging can spontaneously generate periodic Coulomb fissions for evaporating water drops on lubricated surfaces, with more than 60 successive cycles observed over 30 min. Interestingly, the underlying instability can be quantitatively predicted by two fissility thresholds: one marking the onset of drop elongation and another triggering fission. Each fission culminates with a fine liquid jet that disintegrates into 40 to 50 microdroplets, expelled within microseconds. The phenomenon spans an extraordinary range of length scales (from millimeters to microns) and time scales (hours to microseconds), with broad potential applications ranging from nanoscale fabrication to electrospray ionization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America is the property of National Academy of Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Engineering Source
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Header DbId: egs
DbLabel: Engineering Source
An: 193687835
AccessLevel: 6
PubType: Academic Journal
PubTypeId: academicJournal
PreciseRelevancyScore: 0
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Microdroplets%22">Microdroplets</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Scission+%28Chemistry%29%22">Scission (Chemistry)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Solid-liquid+interfaces%22">Solid-liquid interfaces</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Nanotechnology%22">Nanotechnology</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Electrospray+ionization+mass+spectrometry%22">Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Evaporation+%28Chemistry%29%22">Evaporation (Chemistry)</searchLink>
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  Data: Charged water drops are more widespread than commonly acknowledged. For example, raindrops typically carry charges of order Q ~ 1 pC, while routine pipetting in the laboratory produces drops with Q ~ 50 pC. Here, we show that such modest charging can spontaneously generate periodic Coulomb fissions for evaporating water drops on lubricated surfaces, with more than 60 successive cycles observed over 30 min. Interestingly, the underlying instability can be quantitatively predicted by two fissility thresholds: one marking the onset of drop elongation and another triggering fission. Each fission culminates with a fine liquid jet that disintegrates into 40 to 50 microdroplets, expelled within microseconds. The phenomenon spans an extraordinary range of length scales (from millimeters to microns) and time scales (hours to microseconds), with broad potential applications ranging from nanoscale fabrication to electrospray ionization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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  Data: <i>Copyright of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America is the property of National Academy of Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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        Value: 10.1073/pnas.2538161123
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        Text: English
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        Type: general
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      – SubjectFull: Solid-liquid interfaces
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      – SubjectFull: Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry
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      – SubjectFull: Evaporation (Chemistry)
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      – TitleFull: Spontaneous Coulomb fissions of drops on lubricated surfaces.
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              Text: 5/5/2026
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              Y: 2026
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