Ionic Tuning of Droplet Motion on Water Surface

Herein, the oscillation of an oil droplet on the surface of water is studied. The droplet contains an anionic surfactant that can react with the cations present in water. The oscillation starts after a random motion, and the oscillation pattern apparently depends on the cation species in the water phase. However, a common pattern is included. The cation species only affects the amplitude and frequency and sometimes perturbs the regular pattern owing to the instability at the oil/water interface. This common pattern is explained by a simple model that incorporates the surfactant transport from the droplet to the surrounding water surface. The dependency of the amplitude and frequency on cation species is expressed quantitatively by a single parameter, the product of the amplitude and square of frequency. This parameter depends on the cationic species and can be understood in terms of the spreading coefficient. The simple model successfully explains this dependency.