Anisotropy in wetting of oriented sapphire surfaces by liquid Al–Cu alloys

The coexistence of a liquid with a solid and a gas phase causes a contact angle at the triple line and results in a certain work of adhesion. These properties were studied for liquid Al, Cu, and their alloys on single-crystalline sapphire surfaces with C(0001)-, A(11-20)-, and R(1-102)- orientation. Measurements were performed at 1100 °C and under $3 \cdot 10^4\, \hbox{Pa}$ Ar atmosphere in a sessile drop apparatus. There, the sample was heated and melted separately from the substrate within a drop dispenser. Only after the desired measurement conditions were reached, the liquid metal was released. Depending on the alloy composition, the wetting angle approached a constant value within few minutes after the contact of droplet and substrate was established: For pure Cu the contact angle increased to an equilibrium value of 116° ± 5°, which is identical for all the studied sapphire surfaces. For pure Al an anisotropy of the contact angle with regard to these surfaces is found: time evolution of the Al contact angle is only observed for wetting of C-surfaces. Wetting of A- and R-surfaces shows no pronounced time dependence. In these cases, a smaller contact angle of about 90° is observed. Wetting of the different sapphire surfaces by Al–Cu alloys corresponds qualitatively to their wetting by pure Al: again, only for C-surfaces a time-dependent increase of the contact angle is observed. On A- and R-surfaces wetting is not time-dependent and the contact angle increases with Cu content of the alloy.     

Superhydrophobic surfaces produced by applying a self-assembled monolayer to silicon micro/nano-textured surfaces

A novel way of producing superhydrophobic surfaces by applying a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) to silicon micro/nano-textured surfaces is presented in this paper. The micro/nano-textured surfaces on silicon substrates were generated by the aluminum-induced crystallization (AIC) of amorphous silicon (a-Si) technique. Octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS) SAMs were then applied to the textured surfaces by dip coating. The topography and wetting properties of the resulting surfaces were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and a video-based contact angle measurement system. The results show that by introducing OTS SAMs on the silicon micro/nano-textured surfaces, superhydrophobic surfaces with water contact angles (WCAs) of 155° were obtained, as compared to the WCAs of OTS-modified smooth silicon surfaces of about 112°. Surface topography was found to directly influence the WCA as predicted by the Cassie-Baxter model.      

Wetting and interfacial interactions in the CaO–Al2O3–SiO2/silicon carbide system

In this article, the wetting of 23 wt% CaO–15 wt% Al₂O₃–62 wt% SiO₂ molten glass on polycrystalline silicon carbide is studied under air at temperatures between 1,100 and 1,590 °C. Wetting experiments are performed by the sessile drop technique. Good wetting (final contact angle lower than 50°) is observed regardless of the experimental temperature when it is higher than 1,300 °C. Moreover, some specific experiments of wetting of glass on platinum, silica and monocrystalline SiC substrates are also performed. The character of molten glass spreading on silicon carbide (reactive or non-reactive) as well as the role of the atmosphere on interfacial interactions with SiC are identified and discussed.     

Superhydrophilic textured-surfaces on stainless steel substrates

Aluminum-induced crystallization (AIC) of amorphous silicon (a-Si) is used to produce micro/nano-textured surfaces on stainless steel substrates at low temperatures for altering the wetting property of the substrates. The micro/nano-textured surfaces were characterized using scanning electron microscopy, X-ray spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction. The wetting properties of the textured surfaces were characterized by water contact angle measurements. It was found that AIC of a-Si changes the apparent contact angles of stainless steel substrates from 90° to about 0°, measured 0.5 s after a water droplet drops on the surfaces. The study also shows that a superhydrophilic textured surface can be converted to a highly hydrophobic surface with an apparent contact angle of 145° by coating the surface with a layer of octadecyltrichlorosilane.     

Benetzung und Zwickelflüssigkeit bei zwei nebeneinander liegenden Zylindern

The characteristic properties for the wetting of a solid by a liquid are the liquid-surface tension σ′, the contact angle ? and the solid-surface tension σ?. For these three properties an empirical equation is developed, which is also applicable to mercury. Many results of various measurements of the three characteristic properties are collected for 14 diffrent solid materials of packing elements and packings. For two above one another lying and two side by side lying particles as spheres or long cylinders the liquid contour was calculated by different authors. Thereby the contact angle was only varied between 0° and 90°. Here the model of Batel [36] for two side by side lying cylinders is extended. The advancing contact angle and the receding contact angle were used. The model was evaluated for contact angles between 5° and 175°. The results shows the importance of the wetting property 0, 5(1+cos ?).     

Hyperhydrophilic rough surfaces and imaginary contact angles

The complete wetting of rough surfaces is only poorly understood, since the underlying phenomena can neither be described by the Cassie‐Baxter nor the Wenzel equation. An experimental accessiblility by the sessile drop method is also very limited. The term “superhydrophilicity” was an attempt to understand the wetting of rough surfaces, but a clear definition is still forthcoming, mainly because non‐superhydrophilic surfaces can also display a contact angle of zero. Since the Wilhelmy balance is based on force measurements, it offers a technology for obtaining signals during the whole wetting process. We have obtained evidence that additional forces occur during the complete wetting of rough surfaces and that mathematically contact angles for a hydrophilicity beyond the contact angle of zero can be defined by imaginary numbers. A hydrophilized TPS‐surface obtained by chemical wettability switching from a superhydrophobic surface has been previously characterized by dynamic imaginary contact angles of 20i°–21i° and near‐zero hysteresis. Here an extremely high wetting rate is demonstrated reaching a virtual imaginary contact angle of Θ_V,Adv > 3.5i° in less than 210 ms. For a rough surface displaying imaginary contact angles and extremely high wetting rates we suggest the term hyperhydrophilicity. Although, as will be shown, the physical basis of imaginary contact angles is still unclear, they significantly expand our methodology, the range of wettability measurements and the tools for analyzing rough hydrophilic surfaces. They may also form the basis for a new generation of rationally constructed medicinal surfaces.     

Construct hierarchical superhydrophobic silicon surfaces by chemical etching

We present a simple approach for preparing hydrophobic silicon surfaces by constructing silicon nanowire arrays using Ag-assisted chemical etching without low-surface-energy material modification. The static and dynamic wetting properties of the nanostructured surfaces and their dependence on etching conditions were studied. It was revealed that the surface topologies of silicon nanowire arrays and their corresponding wetting properties could be tuned by varying the etching time. Under optimized etching conditions, superhydrophobic surfaces with an apparent contact angle larger than 150 degrees and a sliding angle smaller than 10 degrees were achieved due to the formation of a hierarchical structure. The origin of hydrophobic behavior was discussed based on Wenzel and Cassie models. In addition, the effects of surface modification of Si surface nanostructures on their hydrophobic characteristics were also investigated.     

Wetting behaviour of laser textured Ti3SiC2 surface with micro-grooved structures

In the present paper, micro-grooved Ti₃SiC₂ surfaces with different roughness were fabricated by pulsed laser processing. The surface topography and chemical composition of smooth and micro-grooved surfaces were characterised. The wetting behaviours of smooth and micro-grooved Ti₃SiC₂ surfaces such as static contact angle, anisotropic wettability and contact angle evolution versus time were investigated. The experimental results show that micro-grooved structures can be efficiently fabricated on Ti₃SiC₂ surface by laser processing. The contact angle of micro-grooved surface was increased by 64.2° compared with that of smooth surface. The difference values of contact angles between perpendicular and parallel direction were <?10°. The wetting state of droplet on textured surface was close to Cassie–Baxter model.     

Friction force microscopy study of annealed diamond-like carbon film

In this paper we introduce mechanical and structural characteristics of diamond-like carbon (DLC) films which were prepared on silicon substrates by radio frequency (RF) plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) method using methane (CH₄) and hydrogen (H₂) gas. The films were annealed at various temperatures ranging from 300 to 900 °C in steps of 200 °C using rapid thermal processor (RTP) in nitrogen ambient. Tribological properties of the DLC films were investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM) in friction force microscopy (FFM) mode. The structural properties of the films were obtained by high resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The wettability of the films was obtained using contact angle measurement. XPS analysis showed that the sp³ content is decreased from 75.2% to 24.1% while the sp² content is increased from 24.8% to 75.9% when the temperature is changed from 300 to 900 °C. The contact angles of DLC films were higher than 70°. The FFM measurement results show that the highest friction coefficient value was achieved at 900 °C annealing temperature.     

The effect of interfacial morphology on wetting of graphite by molten silver at high temperature

The wetting of graphite by molten silver was investigated at the temperature range from 1000 to 1350?°C using the sessile drop method coupled with a video-enhanced image digitization technology and a best-fitting algorithm. At the temperature range from 1100 to 1175?°C the contact angle θ was observed suddenly increasing and then decreasing, repeatedly. A similar behavior was not found in the comparison test performed on wetting of refractory (ZrO₂) by molten silver at the same range of temperature. A surface analysis of the graphite used in the measurements was performed, showing a rings-shaped surface morphology. The correlation between the wetting diameters, the ring diameters and the observed drop contractions was then brought out. The measured contact angle decreases while a “trough” forms at the three phases contact line. At the observed θ sudden increase, the drop is actually “jumping out” from the trough, since the rate of the formation of the trough is lower than the rate at which the drop changes its shape. The process then starts again, with the formation of a new trough. The measured θ is obviously affected by the trough geometry.     

Wetting characteristics of copper on niobium

Sessile drop experiments have been performed in a temperature range between 1090 and 1300° C, aiming to study the wetting of niobium by liquid copper and the influence of different atmospheres (argon, hydrogen, vacuum), crystallographic orientation, roughness, and oxygen doping of niobium on the wetting angle. At the peritectic temperature in the Cu-Nb system (1090° C) the contact angle is high,=67°, denoting poor wetting. With increasing temperature, decreases steadily for all samples. The wetting is at its lowest for the oxygen-doped samples and at its best for samples annealed under a hydrogen atmosphere. A new mechanism is suggested and discussed for oxygen degassing of niobium through liquid copper.     

Bitumen spreading on calcareous aggregates at high temperature

In hot asphalt applications, the adhesion between bitumen and mineral aggregate is usually described in terms of bitumen surface tension and contact angle of the bitumen over the aggregate. However, the quantification of the physico-chemical bond between bitumen and aggregate under realistic conditions is a nontrivial task. In this work, we designed a high-temperature goniometer to measure the contact angle of liquid bitumen on mineral aggregate substrates. The drop deposition was conducted once the thermal equilibrium between liquid bitumen and aggregate was attained. We monitored the spreading of sessile drops of viscous naphthenic bitumen and asphaltic bitumen on polished sheets of calcareous aggregates at high temperature (70–100 °C). A near complete wetting with very low contact angles (13– \(24^{\circ }\) ) was reproduced regardless of the bitumen origin and temperature. Furthermore, the coating degree of the naphthenic and asphaltic bitumens on the calcareous aggregates at high temperature was apparently similar. We found that the bitumen-aggregate adhesion is adequately described by dynamic spreading rather than by equilibrium wettability. Spreading kinetics was ruled by the particular properties of each bitumen such as viscosity and acid index. We found evidences of acid etching of the naphthenic bitumen on the calcareous aggregates during spreading at high temperature.     

SiC/Al复合材料超疏水表面的制备

采用化学刻蚀法在SiC/Al复合材料表面构筑微纳结构,通过SEM和表面接触角测量仪分析刻蚀表面的微观形貌特征及润湿特性,并探讨了其与刻蚀时间之间的关系;借助热震试验评价SiC/Al复合材料超疏水表面的温度骤变耐受特性。结果表明:弥散分布的微米级SiC颗粒的存在使得刻蚀后的SiC/Al复合材料表面易形成由微米级粒状结构和纳米级凹坑结构复合而成的微观结构;氟硅烷修饰后的蚀刻表面的接触角最高达到166.8°,滚动角最低为3°,具有很好的超疏水特性;SiC/Al基超疏水表面具有较好的耐受温度骤变特性。     

Laser‐Induced Graphene in Controlled Atmospheres: From Superhydrophilic to Superhydrophobic Surfaces

The modification of graphene‐based materials is an important topic in the field of materials research. This study aims to expand the range of properties for laser‐induced graphene (LIG), specifically to tune the hydrophobicity and hydrophilicity of the LIG surfaces. While LIG is normally prepared in the air, here, using selected gas atmospheres, a large change in the water contact angle on the as‐prepared LIG surfaces has been observed, from 0° (superhydrophilic) when using O₂ or air, to >150° (superhydrophobic) when using Ar or H₂. Characterization of the newly derived surfaces shows that the different wetting properties are due to the surface morphology and chemical composition of the LIG. Applications of the superhydrophobic LIG are shown in oil/water separation as well as anti‐icing surfaces, while the versatility of the controlled atmosphere chamber fabrication method is demonstrated through the improved microsupercapacitor performance generated from LIG films prepared in an O₂ atmosphere.     

Optical measurement of contact angle of liquid helium on cesium

We have studied the wetting properties of helium-4 on a carefully prepared cesium substrate using an interferometric technique. Below the wetting temperature, which is 1.9 K in our experiment, we observe a striking hysteretic behaviour, which is due to the pinning of the contact line on defects of the substrate. We have measured the temperature dependence of the contact angle θ_a for an advancing meniscus. At low temperature, we find θ_a≈25°, in contrast with a previous result by Klier et al.     

Superwetting Surfaces under Different Media: Effects of Surface Topography on Wettability

Superwetting surfaces in air, such as superhydrophobic and superoleophobic surfaces that are governed by surface chemical compositions and surface topographies, are one of the most extensively studied topics in this field. However, it is not well‐understood how surface topographies affect the behaviors of immiscible liquids and gases under other kinds of media, although it is significant in diverse fields. The main aim of this work is to systematically investigate the wetting behaviors of liquids (water and oil) and gas (air) on silicon surfaces with different topographies (i.e., smooth, micro, nano, and micro‐/nanostructures) under various media (i.e., air, water, and oil). The contact angles, as well as contact‐angle hysteresis, sliding angles, and adhesive forces, were utilized to evaluate the wettability of these surfaces. As a result, the microstructured surfaces typically exhibit high contact‐angle hysteresis, high sliding angles, and high adhesive forces, whereas the micro‐/nanostructured surfaces display low contact‐angle hysteresis, low sliding angles, and low adhesive forces, even if they have high (>150°) and similar contact angles. Furthermore, when transferring the same surface from one kind of medium to another, different superwetting states can be reversibly switched.     

高温下液硅的润湿性

液硅在耐高温材料上的润湿性对于低成本太阳能电池生产过程中硅的精炼和铸造具有重要的研究意义。为了研究液硅的润湿性,采用座滴法分别研究真空和氩气气氛以及不同温度条件下液硅在高纯石墨以及刚玉基底材料上的接触角。实验结果表明,高纯石墨基底材料表面越粗糙,液硅所形成的接触角越小,从而润湿性越好;真空条件下液硅在刚玉上的接触角并没有随着加热温度的上升呈现下降的趋势,而是在88°~90°的范围内波动,分析图像的过程中可明显看到液硅在刚玉基底材料上左右来回蠕动的现象。     

Apparently complete grain boundary wetting in Cu–In alloys

The transition from incomplete to complete grain boundary (GB) wetting has been studied in the (Cu)?+?L region of the Cu–In phase diagram in the broad interval of In concentrations from 4 to 22?wt% In. The number of completely wetted GBs increases with increasing temperature and In content. With increasing amount of the melt the GBs with non-zero contact angle become apparently completely wetted. A geometrical model describing the influence of the amount of the liquid phase on the mean contact angle and the portion of completely wetted GBs has been developed. Using this model, the values of the temperatures of the start T _wmin?=?715?°C and the end of the GB wetting transition T _wmax?=?986?°C in the Cu–In system were determined.     

Wettability and interfacial energies in SiC-liquid metal systems

The sessile drop technique is used to measure the contact angles of molten Si, Sn, Cu and Ni in contact with mono- and polycrystalline -SiC as well as CVD -SiC in purified argon atmosphere and at various temperatures. The contact angle of silicon, near its melting point, is about 38° on a mono- as well as polycrystalline -SiC substrate and about 41.5° on -SiC. Tin does not wet the SiC. Using data from the available literature, the work of adhesion and the interfacial energy between SiC and Si or Sn were calculated. In the -SiC-Sn system, both quantities are linearly dependent on temperature in the investigated temperature range 523–1073 K. The metals copper and nickel react with silicon carbide. The silicon content of the copper drop depends on the annealing temperature. The nickel drop after cooling forms the compound Ni₃Si₂. The interferometric measured groove angle of SiC (thermal etching) in vacuum at 2020 K gives a mean value of 157.6±5.8°.     

A semi-empirical correlation for predicting the frost density on hydrophilic and hydrophobic substrates

A new semi-empirical correlation for the prediction of frost density on hydrophilic and hydrophobic surfaces is proposed. The proposed correlation is a function of the modified Jakob number and contains two correction terms, one for surface contact angle and another for relative humidity. Whereas most frost correlations exclude surface wettability as a parameter, our research has shown that the surface contact angle can be important when trying to accurately predict the properties of a growing frost layer. The correlation was developed using data from three different surfaces. On each surface, the frost was grown for three hours and then defrosted. The proposed correlation predicted more than 93% of the data to within a ±20% error band and is proposed for use on surfaces with contact angles 45° < θ < 160°, relative humidity 0.40 < ϕ < 0.80, and plate temperatures −13 °C < T_w < −5 °C under natural convection conditions.