Chemical vs. mechanical microstructure evolution in drying colloid and polymer coatings

Colloidal based films have been widely developed for a wide range of applications including chemical and electrical barrier coatings, photonic materials, biomaterials, and pharmaceutical oral drug delivery. Many previous studies investigate methods to generate uniformity or desired stratification of the final components with a desired microstructure. Few studies have been able to investigate this microstructure in-situ during drying. This experimental study directly tracks fluorescent colloids that are either stable in suspension or have attractive interactions during the drying process using high speed laser scanning confocal microscopy to obtain details of microstructural evolution during drying. The colloidal microstructure in stable suspensions evolves continuously during drying. Microstructures in these systems have a signature Voronoi polyhedra distribution that is defined by lognormal curve having a constant standard deviation that only depends on its chemical composition. Those formulations having strongly attractive constituents have microstructure that is heterogeneous and non-monotonic due to the mechanics associated with internal convection and capillary forces. Toward the end of drying, the influence of the mode of microstructure rearrangements remains evident.