Crystal growth at a liquid-liquid interface upon drop impact

Abstract

The crystallisation that occurs when a drop is placed in contact with a cold surface is a particularly challenging phenomenon to capture experimentally and describe theoretically. The situation of a liquid-liquid interface, where crystals appear on a mobile interface is scarcely studied although it provides a defect-free interface. In this paper, we quantify the dynamics of crystals appearing upon the impact of a drop on a cool liquid bath. We rationalize our observations with a model considering that crystals appear at a constant rate depending on the thermal shock on the expanding interface. This model provides dimensionless curves on the number and the surface area of crystals that we compare to our experimental measurements.