Marangoni (1878) provided a wealth of detailed information on the effects of variations of the
potential energy of liquid surfaces and in particular flow arising from variations in
temperature and surfactant composition. One aspect of this science is seen today to bear on
important phenomena associated with the processing of modern materials. The role of the basic
effect in technology was probably first demonstrated by chemical engineers in the field of
liquid-liquid extraction. Indeed phenomena attributable to Marangoni flows have been reported
in innumerable instances relevant to modern technologies such as in hot salt corrosion in
aeroturbine blades the drying of solvent-containing paints the drying of silicon wafers used
in electronics in materials processing particularly in metallic systems which have been
suspected to demonstrate Marangoni flows.
