Wetting & Surface Energy

Contact Angle

The characterization of solid surfaces and liquids play a vital role in understanding adhesion, material wettability, biocompatibility, lubrication of solid surfaces as well as the wetting, spreading, washability and adsorption of liquids. Contact angle and interfacial tension measurements provide the information needed for the development and modification of liquid and solid surfaces. Using various theoretical models, the measured contact angles can be re-interpreted in terms of surface energy contributions. Note, however, this are only differen ways of data interpretation while the really measured quantity is the contact angle itself.