Determining the surface free energy of solids through contact angle measurement is of significant importance to industry and academia. The models thus far developed still require improvement; the papers in this volume address this dilemma. They were originally presented at the International Symposium on Apparent and Microscopic Contact Angles, held in conjunction with the American Chemical Society Meeting in Boston, MA, August 24-27, 1998. The symposium was truly international and interdisciplinary, providing a forum for almost 100 chemists, metallurgists, physicists, and biologists from 17 countries.

From the Preface: “...The symposium in Boston provided an opportunity to discuss several controversial issues associated with interfacial phenomena that govern the behavior of the three-phase systems. Particularly welcomed were contributions on the molecular and nanoscopic effects in wetting phenomena. We are on the verge of understanding the arrangements of molecules at interfaces and their effect on microscopic properties of the three-phase systems, such as interfacial forces, interfacial tension, linear excess energy, etc. The interfacial transition regions between immiscible phases are the subject of current experimental and theoretical investigations, and the progress in imaging and understanding of these regions was reported in Boston...”

Target Audience: Any researcher, technologist, or student who is concerned with contact angle measurement and its applications.

Partial Table of Contents:

Nanoscopic and Molecular Effects on Contact Angles:

Measurement of Contact Line Tension by Analysis of the Three-Phase Boundary with Nanometer Resolution

Nanometer Resolution of Liquid Surface Topography by Scanning Force Microscopy

Instability of the Three-Phase Contact Region and Its Effect on Contact Angle Relaxation

Molecular Mechanisms of Hydrophobic Transitions

Wettability and Microstructure of Polymer Surfaces: Stereochemical and Conformational Aspects

Contact Angles on Quartz Induced by Adsorption of Heteropolar Hydrocarbons

Surface Forces and Surface Free Energy:

Determination of the Acid—Base Properties of Metal Oxide Films and of Polymers by Contact Angle Measurements

Acid—Base Surface Free Energies of Solids and the Definition of Scales in the Good—van Oss—Chaudhury Theory

The Gap Between the Measured and Calculated Liquid—Liquid Interfacial Tensions Derived from Contact Angles

Self-Organization in Unstable Thin Liquid Films: Dynamics and Patterns in Systems Displaying a Secondary Minimum

Wetting of Heterogeneous, Rough and Curved Surfaces:

Underwater Captive Bubble Technique on Curved Surfaces of Blended Polydimethylsiloxanes

Thermodynamic Equilibrium and Stability of Liquid Films and Droplets on Fibers

Estimation of Contact Angles on Fibers

The Combined Effect of Roughness and Heterogeneity on Contact Angles: The Case of Polymer Coating for Stone Protection

Wettability of Fine Solids Extracted from Bitumen Froth

A New Model to Determine Contact Angles on Swelling Polymer Particles by the Column Wicking Method

Dynamic Effects in Contact Angle Measurement:

Determination of the Peripheral Contact Angle of Sessile Drops on Solids from the Rate of Evaporation

Analysis of Evaporating Droplets Using Ellipsoidal Cap Geometry

An Acoustic Technique for the Monitoring of Dynamic Wetting Behavior

Dynamic Contact Angle Explanaton of Flow Rate-Dependent Saturation—Pressure Relationships During Transient Liquid Flow in Unsaturated Porous Media

Index