Nonequilibrium Period with Emergence of Marangoni Circulations in Meniscus Splitting

Abstract Capillarity and Marangoni effect are important mechanisms driving interfacial pattern formation in dissipative structures of viscous fluids. “Meniscus splitting” pattern, a self‐assembly phenomenon in polysaccharide dispersions that occurs at the evaporative interface within a finite space, exhibits spatial recognition reminiscent of biological systems. However, the complex interactions in viscous dispersions during the nonequilibrium process make it difficult to elucidate how polymers integrate in meniscus splitting. In this study, the nonequilibrium process of unique mass flows as Marangoni circulations before the growth of the splitting pattern is explored. The confluences of multiple circulations are distinctly aligned one‐to‐one with the nucleation positions. This finding strongly indicates that the periodic integration of polymers in a quasi‐2D finite space can be achieved through the reordering process by Marangoni circulations. This splitting interpretation has significant implications for technologies using self‐organization at the nano/micron‐meter scale, such as microfluidics, and the emergence of geometric patterns in nature.