Contact Angle and Wetting Properties

This chapter highlights a variety of techniques that are commonly used to measure contact angles, including the conventional telescope-goniometer method, the Wilhelmy balance method, and the more recently developed drop-shape analysis methods. The various applications and limitations of these techniques are described. Notably, studies of ultrasmall droplets on solid surfaces allow wetting theories to be tested down to the nanometer scale, bringing new insight to contact angle phenomena and wetting behavior.