Langmuir, Vol.17, No.10, 2995-2998, 2001
Contact angle hysteresis near a first-order wetting transition
We examine the contact angle hysteresis for n-octane droplets on a n-hexadecyltrichlorosilane-coated silicon wafer in the vicinity of a first-order wetting transition with wetting temperature T-w = 49.5 degreesC. A pinning transition is observed at T-p = 46.8 degreesC for the receding contact angle. Above this temperature, the contact line for receding droplets is pinned; consequently, the receding contact angle theta (r), = 0 degrees. We use contact angle data to quantify the substrate surface energy difference, Delta sigma (T) = sigma (sv)(T) - sigma (sl)(T), and the relative surface heterogeneity, h(0)/sigma (iv), as a function of temperature T where sigma (ij) is the surface energy between phases i and j.