A. Marmur, LINE TENSION AND THE INTRINSIC CONTACT-ANGLE IN SOLID-LIQUID-FLUID SYSTEMS, Journal of colloid and interface science, 186(2), 1997, pp. 462-466
An approximate theory for calculating the line tension in a solid-liqu
id-fluid system is presented and demonstrated for a solid-liquid-vapor
system. The line tension is shown to depend on the contact angle. Con
sequently, the classical equation for the intrinsic contact angle, in
terms of the line tension, is modified. The magnitude of the line tens
ion is shown to be less than 5 x 10(-9) N, and its sign is shown to be
positive for acute contact angles and negative for obtuse contact ang
les. The deviation from the Young contact angle is shown to be negligi
ble for drops of macroscopic size on an ideal solid surface. (C) 1997
Academic Press.