Anomalous near-equilibrium capillary rise

Abstract

We report and rationalize the observation of a crossover from the classical Lucas-Washburn dynamics to a long-lived anomalously slow regime for capillary rise in simple glass tubes. We propose an analytical model considering the role of thermal motion and the nanoscale surface topography to account for the experimental observations. The proposed model indicates that the contact line perimeter and the surface topography dimensions determine the crossover condition and anomalous imbibition rate. Our findings have important implications for the scientific understanding and technical application of capillary imbibition and suggest strategies to control the adsorption of specific liquids in porous materials.