Résumé
We study the destabilization mechanism of thin liquid sheets expanding in air and show that dilute oilin-water emulsion-based sheets disintegrate through the nucleation and growth of holes that perforatethe sheet [1]. The velocity and thickness fields of the sheet outside the holes are not perturbed by holesand hole opening follows a Taylor-Culick law. We find that a pre-hole, which widens and thins out thesheet with time, systematically precedes the hole nucleation. The growth dynamics of the pre-holefollows the law theoretically predicted for a liquid spreading on another liquid of higher surfacetension due to Marangoni stresses. Classical Marangoni spreading experiments quantitativelycorroborate our findings.