Surface Tension Gradients Induced by Temperature:The Thermal Marangoni Effect

摘要

The Marangoni effects (1)comprise a set of phenomena related to the motion of liquids by surface tension gradients,which can be generated by changes in any variable that affects surface tension,such as composition and temperature.The "tears of wine"(2,3)are perhaps the most common example of surface tension gradients induced by local variations in composition,also called "solutal Marangoni effect"(4).When surface tension gradients are generated by changes in temperature,the resultant phenomenon is usually known as thermocapillary flow (5),or "thermal Marangoni effect".It has been known for a long time that the Marangoni effects can influence many different processes and phenomena across such diverse areas as biology to chemical engineering (1).Recently these surface tension driven flows have gained the attention of many researchers because of their possible industrial applications,including the fabrication of microfluidic devices (6).