I would like to find contact angle or work of adhesion for thermosetting resin on metal surface along the curing process. Is there a way to characterize that? I think the Tensiometer and optical methods that we generally use may not give a good result for such dynamic system.
Suggestions would be of great help. Thanks in advance!
The big problem with dynamic systems is that they are never at mechanical equilibrium across the entire surface area. However, if the system is changing sufficiently slowly, you may be able to observe the contact angle using a goniometer or record video of the contact angle and then measure the contact angle every few frames.
Dear Dr. Pallas,
Thank you for the answer. I tried already similar experiments as you suggested. The repeatability is still a big issue even for the slow curing systems.
Thank you once again!
If you can plot the data as a function of time you might be able to derive rate constants from it and get a good idea of the asymptotic value for the contact angle? Have you tried that? It would be very interesting to hear what the plots look like and if that helps with the repeatability? I'm afraid that any of the techniques currently in use are going to suffer the same problem. Using computer based drop shape analysis may be better but more expensive and the surface tension derived will likely have no meaning as the shape will not be at mechanical equilibrium. Let me know how this goes please. Good luck.
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