Dynamic-Kinetic Duality of Particulate and Multiphase Systems

Abstract The evolution of particulate and multiphase systems can transition from dynamic regimes, governed by classical transport equations with well-defined damping coefficients, to anomalously slow relaxation described by rate equations when the system is critically close to equilibrium. This regime crossover has been both theoretically predicted and experimentally observed in diverse multiphase systems relevant to numerous technological applications, including nanoparticle adhesion at interfaces and liquid imbibition under microscale confinement, and it is attributed to the presence of small nanoscale features of physical or chemical nature at liquid-solid interfaces. This article presents a theoretical framework to more accurately predict and control, advancing or delaying, the dynamic-to-kinetic regime crossover, and highlights strategies for harnessing this phenomenon to enhance or suppress different transport processes in confined multiphase systems.