Drying by Cavitation and Poroelastic Relaxations in Porous Media with Macroscopic Pores Connected by Nanoscale Throats

Olivier Vincent, David A. Sessoms, Erik J. Huber, Jules Guioth, and Abraham D. Stroock

Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 134501 – Published 25 September 2014

Abstract

We investigate the drying dynamics of porous media with two pore diameters separated by several orders of magnitude. Nanometer-sized pores at the edge of our samples prevent air entry, while drying proceeds by heterogeneous nucleation of vapor bubbles—cavitation—in the liquid in micrometer-sized voids within the sample. We show that the dynamics of cavitation and drying are set by the interplay of the deterministic poroelastic mass transport in the porous medium and the stochastic nucleation process. Spatiotemporal patterns emerge in this unusual reaction-diffusion system, with temporal oscillations in the drying rate and variable roughness of the drying front.

Received 25 February 2014

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.113.134501

Authors & Affiliations

Olivier Vincent^1,*, David A. Sessoms¹, Erik J. Huber², Jules Guioth¹, and Abraham D. Stroock^1,3,†

¹School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA
²Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA
³Kavli Institute at Cornell for Nanoscale Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA

^*orv3@cornell.edu
^†ads10@cornell.edu

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Issue

Vol. 113, Iss. 13 — 26 September 2014

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