Spontaneous localized fluid release on swelling fibres.

When immersed into a favourable solvent, many fibres, in particular vegetable, wood or animal fibres, will absorb liquid and swell. When a single drop of solvent is deposited, the fibre first locally swells at the drop position, then the liquid slowly diffuses within the fibre. We study the absorption dynamics of several drops placed on a fibre of fixed length.

Dynamics of drop absorption by a swelling fiber.

Swelling of individual fibres exposed to a favorable solvent may affect the mechanical properties or shape of a fibrous material. We provide experimental results of the absorption dynamics of a single drop deposited on a swellable fibre and show that the total absorption time is highly dependent on the fibre geometry and drop volume. The curvature of the fibre prevents the total spreading of a drop even if the fluid is fully wetting the fibre.