Langmuir, Vol.14, No.22, 6341-6343, 1998
Adhesion of water droplets in organic solvent
We measure contact angles between adhesive water droplets which are stabilized in oil mixtures by amphiphilic molecules. The energy of adhesion, deduced from the contact angles, depends strongly on the solvent quality; this is controlled by changing the ratio of two different oils. In particular, the energy of adhesion sharply rises when the amphiphiles become insoluble within the oil mixture.