Obtaining surface tension from contact angle data by the individual representation approach

Young equation is the fundamental equation of wetting theory in which the connection among the surface tensions, \(\gamma _{{\varphi \psi }} \) and the contact angle, θ _L, are given. The surface tension of solid surfaces, however, cannot be obtained directly from the Young equation. In this paper, the application of the individual representation theory is demonstrated for the determination of surface tensions of solids (or any phase pair) using experimentally obtained contact angle data. According to this approach, the state of the interfacial layers depends upon, by definition, the properties of the bulk phases in every heterogeneous system, and thus, it complements the traditional capillary theory.