title: Generation of strength in a drying film: How fracture toughness depends on dispersion properties.
abstract: The fracture toughness of colloidal films is measured by characterizing cracks which form during directional drying. Images from a confocal microscope are processed to measure the crack width as a function of distance from the crack tip. Applying theory for thin elastic films the fracture toughness is extracted. It is found that the fracture toughness scales with the particle size to the -0.8 power and that the critical energy release rate scales with the particle size to the -1.3 power. In addition, the fracture toughness is found to increase at lower evaporation rates, but the film thickness does not have a significant effect.
authors.affiliation: Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Kaiserstrasse 12, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany.
authors.forename: Natalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Birk-Braun
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, Pembroke Street, Cambridge, CB2 3RA, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Kamran
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yunus
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, Pembroke Street, Cambridge, CB2 3RA, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Eric J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Rees
authors.affiliation: Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Kaiserstrasse 12, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany.
authors.forename: Wilhelm
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Schabel
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, Pembroke Street, Cambridge, CB2 3RA, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Alexander F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Routh