Abstract

Adhesion and wetting of solid surfaces are major fields in interface science with a remarkable range of technological applications. In spite their importance, their precise determination still remains a challenge due, primarily, to the challenges associated with the practical implementation of an operational definition of the surface tension, γ _S , of solids. The latter is often determined from extrapolations from the melt state and, most commonly, indirectly from the contact angle of liquid drops deposited on the surface and the application of a model/equation for the interfacial tension, γ_SL , with the liquid. In general, the work of adhesion of two unit surfaces or the negative of the surface free energy change upon the formation of a unit interface ij from the component unit surfaces i and j is obtained from the Dupre equation [1,2]: 11.1 W i j a d h = γ i + γ j − γ i j = − Δ G i j s