Optimizing and Regulating Electric-Induced Breakup of Salt-Containing Droplets through Magnetic Field Coupling: Insights from Molecular Dynamics Simulations

MF Li and DH Yang and Q Li and YJ Liang and CH Chen and LM He, LANGMUIR, 41, 5097-5111 (2025).

DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.4c04208

Droplet electrodispersion is a fundamental phenomenon in various fields, such as electric demulsification, electrospray, and microfluidic manipulation. Electric-magnetic coupling technology, as an emerging noncontact method, shows substantial potential in modulating droplet electrohydrodynamics, yet the influence characteristics and mechanisms of coupled magnetic fields on droplet electrodispersion remain poorly understood. To address this gap, we conducted a detailed molecular dynamics simulation comparing the breakup dynamics of salt-containing droplets under a single electric field versus an electric-magnetic coupling field. Our results demonstrate that salty droplets in the electric-magnetic coupling field exhibit longer breakup response times and greater stretching deformation. This behavior is attributed to changes in ion migration speed and enrichment regions due to additional Lorentz forces. Furthermore, this effect of coupling field is observed only for ion numbers N-ion > 0, with a marked attenuation at higher concentrations (N-ion = 200), which is related to the hydration effect enhanced by magnetic field. When the electric capillary number Ca ranges from 0.88 to 3.91, the critical value triggering a shift in the breakup mode is enhanced in the coupling field. However, this effect diminishes as Ca approaches 8.8, at which point the coupled field no longer inhibits breakup. Additionally, as the dimensionless electric field frequency f* increases from 0.21 to 4.19, the ion migration trajectories become shorter and less able to accumulate at the interface, thereby limiting the effectiveness of the coupling field. Our study advances the fundamental understanding of salt-containing droplet breakup dynamics under an electric-magnetic coupling field and provides novel insights for controlling and suppressing electrodispersion in related technologies.

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