Jy. Wang et al., Line tension approaching a first-order wetting transition: Experimental results from contact angle measurements, PHYS REV E, 6303(3), 2001, pp. 1601
The line tension values of n-octane and 1-octene on a hexadecyltrichlorosil
ane coated silicon wafer, are determined by contact angle measurements at t
emperatures near a first-order wetting transition T-w. It is shown experime
ntally that the line tension changes sign as the temperature increases towa
rd T-w in agreement with a number of theoretical predictions. A simple phen
omenological model possessing a repulsive barrier at l(0) = 5.1 +/- 0.2 nm
and a scale factor of B = 78 +/- 6 provides a quantitative description of t
he experiments.