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Films of silicone oils (or alkanes) deposited on low-energy surfaces (grafted silicone wafers) are metastable. We nucleate a dry spot at the center of the wafer and observe the rate of growth V=dR/dt of the dry patch of radius R. We find that V is (a) independent of R, (b) independent of the film thickness, (c) inversely proportional to the oil viscosity, and (d) very sensitive to the value of ₄, the equilibrium contact angle between oil and wafer. At small ₄, V₄^3. All these features are in agreement with a recent hydrodynamic theory.
Redon et al. (Mon,) studied this question.