BACKGROUND Adjuvants can improve pesticide application efficiency and effectiveness. However, quantifications of the adjuvant-amended pesticide droplet actions on foliage, which could affect application efficiencies, are largely unknown. RESULTS Droplet evaporation rates and spread on waxy or hairy leaves varied greatly with the adjuvant types tested. On waxy leaves, the wetted areas of dropl...

Hydrophobic poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) colloidal particles, when dispersed in oil with a relatively high dielectric constant, can become highly charged. In the presence of an interface with a conducting aqueous phase, image-charge effects lead to strong binding of colloidal particles to the interface, even though the particles are wetted very little by the aqueous phase. We study both the...

Here we illustrate the free search for the optimal geometry of flow channel cross-sections that meet two objectives simultaneously: reduced resistances to heat transfer and fluid flow. The element cross section and the wall material are fixed, while the shape of the fluid flow opening, or the wetted perimeter is free to vary. Two element cross sections are considered, square and equilateral tri...

Particles that are partially wetted by oil and water are known to adsorb at oil/water interfaces. By the same mechanism, particles that are partially wetted by two immiscible polymers should adsorb at the interface between those two polymers. However, since chemical differences between immiscible polymers are relatively modest, particle adsorption at polymer/polymer interfaces may be expected t...

Abstract A novel method for measuring the interfacial liquid film thickness between immiscible liquids of a slug/droplet in a micropipe is proposed. This method is capable of measuring an oil slug/droplet in water with the relative refractive index (m) between the immiscible liquids very close to one in a capillary tube. Unlike the measurement configuration for an air slug in water, an optical ...