Bursting of dilute emulsion-based liquid sheets driven by a Marangoni effect
Résumé
We study the destabilization mechanism of thin liquid sheets expanding in air and show that dilute oilin-
water emulsion-based sheets disintegrate through the nucleation and growth of holes that perforate
the sheet [1]. The velocity and thickness fields of the sheet outside the holes are not perturbed by holes
and hole opening follows a Taylor-Culick law. We find that a pre-hole, which widens and thins out the
sheet with time, systematically precedes the hole nucleation. The growth dynamics of the pre-hole
follows the law theoretically predicted for a liquid spreading on another liquid of higher surface
tension due to Marangoni stresses. Classical Marangoni spreading experiments quantitatively
corroborate our findings.