title: Stability of liquid films covered by a carpet of self-propelled surfactant particles.
abstract: We consider a carpet of self-propelled particles at the liquid-gas interface of a liquid film on a solid substrate. The particles exert an excess pressure on the interface and also move along the interface while the swimming direction changes due to rotational diffusion. We study the intricate influence of these self-propelled insoluble surfactants on the stability of the film surface and show that depending on the strength of in-surface rotational diffusion and the absolute value of the in-surface swimming velocity, several characteristic instability modes can occur. In particular, rotational diffusion can either stabilize the film or induce instabilities of different character.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science Engineering and Technology, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, Victoria 3122, Australia.
authors.forename: Andrey
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pototsky
authors.affiliation: Institut für Theoretische Physik, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Wilhelm Klemm Straße 9, D-48149 Münster, Germany.
authors.forename: Uwe
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Thiele
authors.affiliation: Institut für Theoretische Physik, Technische Universität Berlin, Hardenbergstrasse 36, 10623 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Holger
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Stark
mesh_terms: D004058:Diffusion; D005740:Gases; D009038:Motion; D012399:Rotation; D013501:Surface-Active Agents
chemical_list: D005740:Gases; D013501:Surface-Active Agents