Evaporation of Concentrated Polymer Solutions is Insensitive to Relative Humidity

Max Huisman; Paul Digard; Wilson C. K. Poon; Simon Titmuss

doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.131.248102

Evaporation of Concentrated Polymer Solutions is Insensitive to Relative Humidity

Max Huisman, Paul Digard, Wilson C. K. Poon, Simon Titmuss

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

A recent theory suggests that the evaporation kinetics of macromolecular solutions is insensitive to the ambient relative humidity (RH) due to the formation of a ‘polarisation layer’ of solutes at the air-solution interface. We confirm this insensitivity up to RH ≈ 80% in the evaporation of polyvinyl
alcohol solutions from open-ended capillaries. To explain the observed drop in evaporation rate at higher RH, we need to invoke compressive stresses due to interfacial polymer gelation. Moreover, RH-insensitive evaporation sets in earlier than theory predicts, suggesting a further role for a gelled ‘skin’. We discuss the relevance of these observations for respiratory virus transmission via aerosols.

Original language	English
Article number	248102
Pages (from-to)	1-5
Number of pages	5
Journal	Physical Review Letters
Volume	131
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.131.248102
Publication status	Published - 15 Dec 2023

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cond-mat.soft

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10.1103/PhysRevLett.131.248102Licence: Creative Commons: Attribution (CC-BY)

2211.16954v3Accepted author manuscript, 2.13 MBLicence: Creative Commons: Attribution (CC-BY)

https://arxiv.org/abs/2211.16954Licence: Creative Commons: Attribution (CC-BY)

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title = "Evaporation of Concentrated Polymer Solutions is Insensitive to Relative Humidity",

abstract = "A recent theory suggests that the evaporation kinetics of macromolecular solutions is insensitive to the ambient relative humidity (RH) due to the formation of a {\textquoteleft}polarisation layer{\textquoteright} of solutes at the air-solution interface. We confirm this insensitivity up to RH ≈ 80% in the evaporation of polyvinylalcohol solutions from open-ended capillaries. To explain the observed drop in evaporation rate at higher RH, we need to invoke compressive stresses due to interfacial polymer gelation. Moreover, RH-insensitive evaporation sets in earlier than theory predicts, suggesting a further role for a gelled {\textquoteleft}skin{\textquoteright}. We discuss the relevance of these observations for respiratory virus transmission via aerosols.",

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AU - Huisman, Max

AU - Digard, Paul

AU - Poon, Wilson C. K.

AU - Titmuss, Simon

N1 - Accepted in PRL

PY - 2023/12/15

Y1 - 2023/12/15

N2 - A recent theory suggests that the evaporation kinetics of macromolecular solutions is insensitive to the ambient relative humidity (RH) due to the formation of a ‘polarisation layer’ of solutes at the air-solution interface. We confirm this insensitivity up to RH ≈ 80% in the evaporation of polyvinylalcohol solutions from open-ended capillaries. To explain the observed drop in evaporation rate at higher RH, we need to invoke compressive stresses due to interfacial polymer gelation. Moreover, RH-insensitive evaporation sets in earlier than theory predicts, suggesting a further role for a gelled ‘skin’. We discuss the relevance of these observations for respiratory virus transmission via aerosols.

AB - A recent theory suggests that the evaporation kinetics of macromolecular solutions is insensitive to the ambient relative humidity (RH) due to the formation of a ‘polarisation layer’ of solutes at the air-solution interface. We confirm this insensitivity up to RH ≈ 80% in the evaporation of polyvinylalcohol solutions from open-ended capillaries. To explain the observed drop in evaporation rate at higher RH, we need to invoke compressive stresses due to interfacial polymer gelation. Moreover, RH-insensitive evaporation sets in earlier than theory predicts, suggesting a further role for a gelled ‘skin’. We discuss the relevance of these observations for respiratory virus transmission via aerosols.

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ER -

Evaporation of Concentrated Polymer Solutions is Insensitive to Relative Humidity

Abstract

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