First-Order Wetting Transitions under Gravity

✍ Scribed by R. Blossey; C. Oligschleger

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 70 KB
• Volume: 209
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0021-9797
• DOI: 10.1006/jcis.1998.5895

✦ Synopsis

We discuss the effect of a gravitational field on the first-order wetting transition of a liquid layer on a horizontal surface. Gravity limits the thickness of the wetting layer and leads to a smooth first-order transition line Deltaµw(T, g) in the wetting phase diagram of chemical potential difference from bulk coexistence, Deltaµ identical with µ - µc, temperature T, and gravitational acceleration g. Consequences for the interpretation of wetting experiments are pointed out. Copyright 1999 Academic Press.