Contact Angle Measurement

A contact angle measurement is a fast and inexpensive way to characterize surface energies of liquid and solid specimen. For that purpose a small droplet of a know liquid is deposited on a substrate by an automated syringe. Depending on the surface energy of the substrate and the liquid droplet the interface between the materials is shaped differently. Here the contact angle of the droplet on the surface enables an easy way to calculate the surface energy of the surface.

To record the contact angle, the interface is illuminated by a controllable light source and a CCD camera takes an image of the droplet. This picture is analyzed by the included software and the contact angle is displayed.

Especially for a quality control of surface modifications the contact measurement is a vital characterization tool. In addition to the standard analysis of droplets on surfaces the software also enables the characterization of hanging droplets released by the syringe in order to test the composition and properties of prepared solutions.

Contact:

Elke Brauweiler-Reuters
Tel.:  +49-2461-61-5411
e-mail: e.brauweiler-reuters@fz-juelich.de

Prof. Dr. Andreas Offenhäusser
Tel.:  +49-2461-61-2330
e-mail: a.offenhaeusser@fz-juelich.de