Exploring Surface Energy of Polymers by Contact Angle Estimation

By Fred Okoh1; NNCI Nano2

1. Arabia Mountain High School, Lithonia, GA 2. National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA

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Abstract

Students will qualitatively and quantitatively estimate contact angles of polymers and compare their surface energy. They will use a variety of polymer sheets onto which they will place drops of water. After observing the shape of the drop, they will take digital photographs of the drop, print the images, and measure the contact angle with a protractor. Measurement of the contact angle is fundamental data for determining the degree of wetting when a liquid such as water and solids such as polymers and block copolymers (BCP) interact. Wetting plays an important role in nanofluids, self-cleaning surfaces, electro-wetting and in several industrial processes.

This resource contains multiple documents for download including a Teachers Guide, Student Guide and Presentation Slides. To view a list of all documents click on the Supporting Docs tab.

Sponsored by

NSF RET program at Georgia Institute of Technology EEC 1200925 and NNCI Coordinating Office ECCS 1626153

Cite this work

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

  • Fred Okoh, NNCI Nano (2020), "Exploring Surface Energy of Polymers by Contact Angle Estimation," https://nanohub.org/resources/34558.

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Submitter

Nancy Healy

Georgia Insitute of Technology, Atlanta, GA

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