Wetting Dynamics of Aqueous Solutions on Solid Surfaces

In 1876 Gibbs [1] elaborated the fundamentals of the thermodynamic theory of capillarity; his paper ‘On the Equilibrium of Heterogeneous Substances’ was taken as a basis for all subsequent theoretical and experimental wetting studies. Since then, diligent work has been performed to describe the wetting behaviour of heterogeneous systems, thereby determining the surface energies of liquid and solid bodies, and in this manner predicting their adhesion behaviour important in technology applications. Over a period of time, plenty of literature have been accumulated, proposing various measurement techniques and different evaluation possibilities including even criticism of one or the other computational algorithm or fundamental idea.