Solid particles adsorbed on capillary-bridge-shaped fluid polystyrene surfaces

Particles adsorbed on microscopic polystyrene (PS) capillary bridge surfaces were observed to investigate their motion under capillary forces arising from a nonuniform shape. Capillary bridges were created by placing thin PS films, heated above the glass transition temperature (T_g), between two electrodes with an air gap between the surface of the PS and the upper electrode. Silica particles, 100 nm in diameter, were placed on the surface of the PS capillary bridges, and the sample was heated above the T_g of PS to enable particle motion. Samples were cooled to below T_g, and the locations of the particles were observed using scanning electron microscopy. The particles did not preferentially locate around the center of the capillary bridge, as predicted by others, but instead segregated to the edges. These results indicate that the forces driving particles to the three-phase contact line (air/PS/electrode surface) are greater than those locating particles around the center.