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Fluid mechanics

When shape matters

The well-known boundaries of coffee stains are caused by the outward flow of particles suspended in the liquid. Experiments show that ellipsoidal particles can prevent the formation of such boundaries. See Letter p.308

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Figure 1: Preventing the coffee-ring effect.

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Correspondence to Jan Vermant.

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Vermant, J. When shape matters. Nature 476, 286–287 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/476286a

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