Freezing of a liquid marble

Langmuir. 2012 Jul 17;28(28):10324-8. doi: 10.1021/la301854f. Epub 2012 Jul 5.

Abstract

In this study, we present for the first time the observations of a freezing liquid marble. In the experiment, liquid marbles are gently placed on the cold side of a thermo-electric cooler (TEC), and the morphological changes are recorded and characterized thereafter. These liquid marbles are noticed to undergo a shape transition from a spherical to a flying-saucer-shaped morphology. The freezing dynamics of liquid marbles is observed to be very different from that of a freezing water droplet on a superhydrophobic surface. For example, the pointy tip appearing on a frozen water drop could not be observed for a frozen liquid marble. In the end, we highlight a possible explanation of the observed morphology.