WETTABILITY OF NATIVE SILVER SURFACES

Self-assembled monolayers are usually formed on freshly evaporated met al surfaces. For some applications, however, it is inevitable to work with native metal surfaces. Strongly adsorbed organic contaminants on these materials can be removed by either a treatment with cold argon p lasma or an open flame. The wettability of the surface is a direct mea sure of its cleanliness. The contact angles of liquids with a clean si lver surface, irrespective of their polarities, were found to be very small (less than or equal to 10 degrees).