Thermo-capillary flow in a Hele-Show cell as a tool for research of the dynamics of insoluble surfactant monolayer

Abstract

The occurrence of thermocapillary convection in a Hele-Shaw cell in the presence of the surfactant film on the free surface is experimentally investigated. It is shown that at certain values of the control parameter two different zones are formed on the surface – the zone free from impurities and the stagnant zone. In the first zone, the onset and development of an intense Marangoni convection is observed, while in the stagnant zone the velocity of the motion on the surface is lower by about two orders of magnitude. This study clearly demonstrates that the analysis of the temperature profile provides sufficient information about both the distribution of tangential stresses over the surface and the degree of compression of the surfactant film. In addition, due to a simple linear law of temperature variation on the surface of the stagnant zone, the distribution of the surfactant molecules over the surface can be predicted based on the known equation of state for the film of the examined surfactant. Thus, the application of a set of simple experimental techniques to the examined model problem allowed us to obtain complete information on the state of a complex system consisting of a liquid layer and a surface film of the surfactant, the structure of the volumetric flow, the velocity of the liquid at the surface, the distribution of shear stresses and surfactant molecules over the surface.