On the mechanisms of superspreading*

Superspreading is the rapid and complete spreading of surfactant-laden droplets on hydrophobic substrates, which is caused by certain surfactant molecules known as superspreaders. Despite significant experimental efforts, the precise mechanisms of this phenomenon and the characteristic properties of superspreading surfactants had remained elusive. Here, we report on extensive molecular dynamics simulations of a coarse-grained model based on the SAFT force-field. Our studies highlight the mechanisms of superspreading, the features of superspreading surfactants and a range of parameters that affect the spreading efficiency of surfactant-laden droplets. We anticipate that our investigations will pave the way for the design of molecular architectures tailored specifically for applications that rely on the control of wetting.