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Charged Drops Don't Splash [fyfluiddynamics.com]:

When a droplet falls on a surface [fyfluiddynamics.com], it spreads itself horizontally into a thin lamella [fyfluiddynamics.com]. Sometimes — depending on factors like viscosity, impact speed, and air pressure — that drop splashes [fyfluiddynamics.com], breaking up along its edge into myriad smaller droplets. But a new study finds [doi.org] that a small electrical charge is enough to suppress a drop’s splash, as seen below.

The drop’s electrical charge [fyfluiddynamics.com] builds up along the drop’s surface, providing an attraction that acts somewhat like surface tension. As a result, charged drops don’t lift off the surface as much and they spread less overall; both factors inhibit splashing.* The effect could increase our control of droplets in ink jet printing, allowing for higher resolution printing. (Image and research credit: F. Yu et al. [doi.org]; via APS News [aps.org])

*Note that this only works for non-conductive surfaces. If the surface is electrically conductive, the charge simply dissipates, allowing the splash to occur as normal.

Journal Reference:
Fanfei Yu, Aaron D. Ratschow, Ran Tao, et al. Why Charged Drops Do Not Splash, Physical Review Letters (DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.134.134001 [doi.org])
Fanfei Yu, Aaron D. Ratschow, Ran Tao, et al. Why Charged Drops Do Not Splash, Physical Review Letters (DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.134.134001 [doi.org])

Original Submission