P. Aurenty et al., AN APPARATUS FOR THE CHARACTERIZATION OF THE STATIC AND DYNAMIC WETTABILITY OF COMPLEX INTERFACES, Review of scientific instruments, 68(4), 1997, pp. 1801-1808
The apparatus described in this work is a novel tool which improves th
e capabilities of studying the static and dynamic features of wetting.
It is composed, on the one hand, of an operational part which include
s the mechanical setup for the precise deposition of drops and their c
orrect viewing once they start evolving on a substrate. On the other h
and, a specific vision system completes the instrument and is made up
of different cameras and focusing optics, capable of acquiring images
at variable rates (up to 200 Hz) and of a data-processing card designe
d to provide parameters such as contact angles, interfacial tensions,
and spreading kinetics. Numerous examples of the use of this apparatus
are provided in order to illustrate its merits within a wide range of
static and dynamic situations related to the basic properties of inte
rfaces. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.