Surface free energy

Precise characterisation of solid material surfaces plays a vital role in research and product development in many industrial and academic areas. Wettability of the surface is important in processes such as painting and printing, and can be used to study material interactions (i.e. fouling). Wettability can be studied by measuring the contact angle of the substrate with various known liquids, after which the surface free energy is calculated according a chosen theory.

MaterialsXpertise has the availability of various models to calculate the critical surface tension or the surface free energy of a solid by testing against a series of liquids and measuring the contact angles.

The surface free energy quantifies the characteristics of the solid and indicates the intermolecular interactions at the interface with other materials.