Precipitation dynamics of surrogate respiratory sessile droplets leading to possible fomites

Rasheed, A and Sharma, S and Kabi, P and Saha, A and Chaudhuri, S and Basu, S (2021) Precipitation dynamics of surrogate respiratory sessile droplets leading to possible fomites. In: Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 600 . pp. 1-13.

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Abstract

Hypothesis: The droplets ejected from an infected host during expiratory events can get deposited as fomites on everyday use surfaces. Recognizing that these fomites can be a secondary route for disease transmission, exploring the deposition pattern of such sessile respiratory droplets on daily-use substrates thus becomes crucial. Experiments: The used surrogate respiratory fluid is composed of a water-based salt-protein solution, and its precipitation dynamics is studied on four different substrates (glass, ceramic, steel, and PET). For tracking the final deposition of viruses in these droplets, 100 nm virus emulating particles (VEP) are used and their distribution in dried-out patterns is identified using fluorescence and SEM imaging techniques. Findings: The final precipitation pattern and VEP deposition strongly depend on the interfacial transport processes, edge evaporation, and crystallization dynamics. A constant contact radius mode of evaporation with a mixture of capillary and Marangoni flows results in spatio-temporally varying edge deposits. Dendritic and cruciform-shaped crystals are majorly seen in all substrates except on steel, where regular cubical crystals are formed. The VEP deposition is higher near the three-phase contact line and crystal surfaces. The results showed the role of interfacial processes in determining the initiation of fomite-type infection pathways in the context of COVID-19. © 2021 Elsevier Inc.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	Journal of Colloid and Interface Science
Publisher:	Academic Press Inc.
Additional Information:	The copyright for this article belongs to the Authors.
Keywords:	Crystals; Deposition; Drops; Dynamics; Evaporation; Fluorescence imaging; Imaging techniques; Magnetic bubbles; Viruses, Crystallization dynamics; Deposition patterns; Different substrates; Disease transmission; Interfacial process; Interfacial transport; Precipitation patterns; Three-phase contact line, Precipitation (chemical), glass; lung surfactant; polyethylene terephthalate; steel; stomach mucin; sodium chloride, Article; biosafety; capillary flow; ceramics; contact angle; coronavirus disease 2019; crystallization; dendrite; droplet transmission; environmental temperature; evaporation; flow measurement; fluorescence; fomite; hydration; hydrodynamics; liquid; particle image velocimetry; particulate matter; precipitation; respiratory fluid; scanning electron microscopy; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; solvation; spatiotemporal analysis; steady state; surface property; surface tension; thermal conductivity; virus emulating particle; virus transmission; water vapor; wettability; human, COVID-19; Crystallization; Fomites; Humans; SARS-CoV-2; Sodium Chloride
Department/Centre:	Division of Interdisciplinary Sciences > Interdisciplinary Centre for Energy Research
Date Deposited:	20 Feb 2023 10:56
Last Modified:	20 Feb 2023 10:56
URI:	https://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/80408

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