Wetting kinetics of liquid aluminium on an Al2O3 surface

The wetting process of a liquid aluminium drop on a solid Al₂O₃ surface has been investigated. Two different models have been proposed: a hydrodynamic model based on the effect of viscosity as well as a diffusion model which considers diffusional effects. The prediction from the models was compared with experiments. It was found that the wetting process of a liquid aluminium drop on an Al₂O₃ surface can be represented by the diffusion model rather than by the hydrodynamic model. In contrast, the hydrodynamic model could be employed to describe the wetting process of a liquid polymer drop on a solid.