Contact angle hysteresis

In thermodynamic equilibrium, the contact angle is related by Young's equation to the interfacial energies. Unfortunately, it is practically impossible to measure the equilibrium contact angle. When for example placing a drop on a surface its contact angle can assume any value between the advancing Θ_a and receding Θ_r contact angles, depending on how the drop is placed. Θ_a − Θ_r is called contact angle hysteresis. Contact angle hysteresis is essential for our daily life because it provides friction to drops. Many applications, such as coating, painting, flotation, would not be possible without contact angle hysteresis. Contact angle hysteresis is caused by the nanoscopic structure of the surfaces. Here, we review our current understanding of contact angle hysteresis with a focus on water as the liquid. We describe appropriate methods to measure it, discuss the causes of contact angle hysteresis, and describe the preparation of surfaces with low contact angle hysteresis.     

Wetting for self-healing and electrowetting for additive manufacturing

Advanced additive manufacturing actively widens its tool box of wettability-related phenomena to be used in production of new items. Novel self-healing engineering materials incorporate vascular networks with two types of nanochannels: the one containing a resin monomer, whereas another one — a curing agent. If such nanocomposites are damaged locally, both types of channels are locally broken, and they release resin monomer and curing agent droplets. These droplets spread by wettability over the nanotextured matrix, touch each other, and coalesce, which triggers polymerization reaction and crack stitching. Wettability-facilitated droplet spreading is accompanied by liquid imbibition in the pores in the nanofiber network. Such process peculiarities are in focus in the present review. An additional process relevant in direct writing and 3D printing is electrowetting (EW). It stems from the change in the contact angle in response to the electric polarization of dielectric substrates. EW allows movement of droplets on horizontal, vertical, and inverse surfaces, which can significantly facilitate the existing direct writing and 3D printing technologies. Accordingly, EW is also in focus in the present review.     

Surface forces in wetting films

A short review of various components of surface forces acting in a non-symmetrical system such as wetting films is presented here. Experimental results are compared with modified DLVO theory, which includes, besides dispersion and electrostatic, structural (solvation) forces caused by a change in liquid structure in conditions of confined geometry. The peculiarities of disjoining pressure isotherms and conditions of the film stability of non-polar and polar simple liquids, as well as of aqueous solutions of electrolytes and surfactants, are systematically considered from a historical perspective.     

润湿特性对超级电容器储能动力学的影响机理

润湿特性对超级电容器储能性能有着至关重要的影响。借助分子动力学模拟,本文研究了润湿特性对超级电容器储能动力学行为的影响。以石墨烯和晶体铜作为疏电解液和亲电解液电极材料。结果表明,在充电过程中,亲电解液铜电极呈现出非对称的U型微分电容曲线,负极电容是正极的～5.77倍,不同于经典双电层理论Gouy-Chapman-Stern(对称U型)和疏电解液型。该现象与离子自由能阻力分布密切相关,负极自由能阻力远小于正极(～2倍)和疏电解液电极,进而有利于强化双电层结构对电极电压的响应能力,导致更高微分电容。通过微分离子电荷密度,本文再现了微分电容演变规律,并发现改善润湿性会显著降低双电层厚度。最后,我们指出润湿性直接影响储能微观机理,将电荷储存机制从离子吸附和交换共同主导(疏电解液)转变到离子吸附主导(亲电解液)。本文所得结论揭示了润湿特性对储能动力学行为影响的原子层级机理,对超级电容器材料设计、构筑与润湿特性调控具有重要指导意义。     

GaAs pyramidal quantum dot coupled to wetting layer in an AlGaAs matrix: A strain-free system

In this contribution, the electronic and linear and nonlinear optical properties of pyramid-shaped GaAs quantum dots (QDs) coupled to wetting layer (WL) in an Al_0.3Ga_0.7As matrix have been investigated. This nanostructure is relaxed from strain effects due to very small lattice-mismatching. Three transitions of P-to-S, WL-to-P, and WL-to-S were considered and the corresponding transition dipole moments, oscillator strengths, and linear and nonlinear optical properties regarding to these transitions were investigated as a function of the QD height. The results showed that for P-to-S transition, which is a purely in-plane-polarized transition, the dependence of electronic and optical properties on the size is moderate and can be neglected. But for WL-to-P and WL-to-S transitions, which are in-plane- and z-polarized transitions, respectively, the electronic as well as optical properties are strongly size-dependent. Furthermore, a competition between WL-to-S and WL-to-P transitions was observed when the QD size changed.     

Wetting at a polymer gel–vapor interface; a system not influenced by a long-range van der Waals contribution

The exterior of a cross-linked polymer gel resembles a polymer brush. Such gel including its brush can be swollen by a good solvent. The detachment of the solvent–vapor (L–V) interface from the brush is controlled by the adsorption of polymer segments onto this interface and is to a very good approximation not influenced by long-range van der Waals contributions. A wetting transition in this system coincided with the adsorption–desorption transition for chains onto such L–V interface and has various unusual features. There are several indications that in practice this system should feature a second-order wetting transition.     

四层对称结构随角异色颜料制备与光谱特性研究

采用经过酸碱预处理的具有干涉色的云母钛作为基质材料,分别包覆氧化铁、氧化铬、氧化钴制得三层结构随角异色颜料。通过改变包覆层数和各层间的排列顺序,增加基质材料与外层包覆材料的反射率差值,获得变色效果更加明显的四层结构随角异色功能颜料。用X-Rite MA86Ⅱ5角度分光光度计对颜料的反射率光谱和CIE色度值进行测试分析,研究了四层结构对颜料随角异色效果的影响,分析比较不同的包覆物与颜料随角变色效果的关系。结果表明,采用多层膜包覆,能够增加基底材料与外层包覆层的反射率,增强颜料的颜色,颜料的颜色在不同的角度会有更明显的变化,随角异色效果更加显著。     

Fields,particles and universality in two dimensions

We discuss the use of field theory for the exact determination of universal properties in two-dimensional statistical mechanics. After a compact derivation of critical exponents of main universality classes, we turn to the off-critical case, considering systems both on the whole plane and in presence of boundaries. The topics we discuss include magnetism, percolation, phase separation, interfaces, wetting.     

On dewetting dynamics of solid films of hydrogen isotopes and its influence on tritium ß spectroscopy

The dewetting dynamics of solid films of hydrogen isotopes, quench-condensed on a graphite substrate, was measured at various temperatures below desorption by observing the stray light from the film. A schematic model describing the dewetting process by surface diffusion is presented, which agrees qualitatively with our data. The activation energies of different hydrogen isotopes for surface diffusion were determined. The time constant for dewetting of a quench-condensed film at the working temperature of 1.86 K of the mainz neutrino mass experiment was extrapolated. Received 30 December 1999     

Spinodal dewetting of thin liquid films at soft interfaces

We study theoretically the behavior of nanoscopic liquid films L (thickness e) intercalated between a solid S and a rubber R (elastic modulus μ). Thickness modulations involve a healing length , which results from a competition between elastic and disjoining pressure. With van der Waals interactions, , where a is a molecular size and h₀ the rubber capillary length ( , interfacial tension). If the Hamaker constant of the intercalated liquid is negative, the film dewets by amplification of peristaltic fluctuations (“spinodal dewetting”). The typical size of the contacts is predicted to scale like for films of thicknesses . The rise time of the fastest mode, predicted to scale like , should be very sensitive to the film thickness. Received 11 February 2000 and Received in final form 22 May 2000