Interfacial dynamics of water droplets on graphite: Wetting, evaporation, and diffusion behaviors up to 150 °C and 10 MPa
Wang X. Zhou Y. Tian H. Zhang M. Gabdullin M. Akhanova N. Yue M. Pan B.
May 2026Elsevier B.V.
Advances in Colloid and Interface Science
2026#351
Interfacial dynamics of water droplets on graphite determine the performances of material synthesis, deep geo-energy recovery and storage, etc., where high temperature and high pressure prevail. However, these dynamics under such harsh conditions are rarely explored. Therefore, we quantified wetting and evaporation characteristics as a function of temperature (25–150 °C), pressure (5 and 10 MPa), and gas type (CO2 vs N2) using droplet profile measurements and estimated diffusion coefficients (D) via theoretical analysis. Results showed that a higher temperature led to a smaller contact angle (θ) and a larger evaporation rate. Specifically, for CO2 at 10 MPa, as temperature increased from 25 to 100 °C, θ decreased dramatically from 156° to 86°, indicating a transition from strong gas-wet to intermediate-wet; evaporation was negligible. As temperature further increased from 100 to 150 °C, θ decreased slowly from 86° to 69°, indicating a shift from intermediate-wet to weakly water-wet; the evaporation rate increased by nearly 12 times (from 0.006 to 0.072 μL·s−1). In contrast, for N₂ at 10 MPa, θ decreased linearly from 91° to 73° as temperature increased from 25 to 150 °C. A higher pressure resulted a larger θ for both CO2 and N2. Finally, the estimated D under the evaporation conditions (100–150 °C at 5 and 10 MPa) ranged from 1.58×10−6 to 6.18×10−6 m2·s−1, showing a weak dependence on thermo-physical parameters and gas type. These results provide significant insights into interfacial dynamics of water droplet on carbonaceous surfaces under harsh conditions.
Diffusion coefficient , Evaporation , Graphite , High temperature and high pressure , Wetting
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School of Resources and Safety Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, 100083, China
PetroChina Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration & Development, Beijing, 100083, China
Key Laboratory of Petroleum Geochemistry, CNPC, Beijing, 100083, China
School of Vehicle and Energy, Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao, 066000, China
Kazakh-British Technical University, Almaty, 050000, Kazakhstan
State Key Laboratory of Petroleum Resources and Engineering, China University of Petroleum (Beijing), Beijing, 102249, China
School of Resources and Safety Engineering
PetroChina Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration & Development
Key Laboratory of Petroleum Geochemistry
School of Vehicle and Energy
Kazakh-British Technical University
State Key Laboratory of Petroleum Resources and Engineering
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