A reaction–diffusion particle model for clustering of self-propelled oil droplets on a surfactant solution

We experimentally and numerically investigate collective behaviors of oil droplets floating on a surfactant solution in a narrow circular channel. A closed environment where a glass cover is placed on the channel shown that ethyl salicylate droplets on the surface of sodium dodecyl sulfate solution exhibit transient oscillatory dynamics, leading to the formation of a single cluster via the merging of sub-clusters. When the glass cover is removed, oscillatory behavior resumes, and the cluster breaks up. To understand these experimental findings, we introduce a mathematical model that combines equations of motion for droplets with a reaction–diffusion system, where droplet dynamics and the chemical reactions are considered on the one-dimensional surface, and the diffusion of chemicals in the air phase and the water phase is treated in the two-dimensional region. Our model successfully reproduces transient oscillations and the characteristics of cluster formation, and the effect of the glass cover. We argue that the attractive long-range interaction due to the global concentration profile of the solution suffices for the cluster formation.