Assessment of the Different Methods

In summary, there are three basic approaches to use contact angle data to determine the surface tensions of solid surfaces. These approaches are the Zisman method, the surface tension component methods, and the equation of state. Within these three approaches, there are many variants. It is reasonable to wonder the merit, accuracy, and limitation of some of the methods. The Zisman method is an empirical approach based on the correlation between the cosines of the contact angles on a solid surface versus the surface tensions of the test liquids. With alkanes, linear plots are usually obtained, and the critical solid surface tension (yc) is determined by extrapolating 

7 Determination of Solid Surface Tension by Contact Angle 

The surface tension component method assumes that surface tension can be partitioned into different components, which address different intermolecular interactions individually. The overall surface tension will be the sum of all the components according to the linear free energy relationship. In the original Fowkes method [14], only the dispersion interaction is considered. The component method has been subsequentiy extended to include polar component and later divided the polar component into dipolar interaction and H-bonding interaction. The vOCG model appeared as a refined version of the surface tension component methodology. It assumes the existence of both additive and nonadditive components. The Lifshitz-van der Waals component (/ ) is additive, and the electron donor and acceptor components (7 and 7 ) are nonadditive. The solid surface tension (7sv) can be calculated by using three Uquids with known y, y and y values. Since this is a semiempirical approach, the calcu- 

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