For more than 400 years, important scientists and mathematicians have done valuable pioneering work towards the explanation of surface tension, capillary wetting, and other inter-facial problems.
 Although most of us don’t realise it, surface chemistry and the inter-facial processes involved rule our everyday life wherever we go. A multitude of processes whether in the household, or in industrial production, are influenced by interfaces and their chemical state. All known high technologies with a promising future, like wafer and chip production, biochemistry and gene technology as well as micro-system technology benefit in particular from the increasing understanding of inter-facial correlations.
Particle and Surface Sciences can provide all of the products provided by DataPhysics, we would like to take you on a little tour of this exciting world then you can contact us to tailor the exact solution to your needs.
About inter-facial interactions
When talking about the wetting behaviour of liquids and solids we are in fact describing surface chemistry. Apart from such properties as density or viscosity, liquids also have the property of surface tension, which represents the amount of work necessary to create a piece of new surface. It is equivalent to the surface free energy of solids.
A series of inter- and intra- molecular interactions rule the surface phenomena - known as van der Waals interactions. A distinction is made between static and induced dipole moments (refer to Keesom, Debye and London).
Today, the Schrodinger equation as the physical basis of quantum chemistry forms the firm theoretical foundation of surface chemistry. many numerical methods of approximation (eg. ab initio, semi-empirical) have in recent years been continuously developed with the aim of understanding chemical bonding forces and courses of reaction with the help of the computer.
These efforts have also contributed to the description of the phenomenon of the contact or wetting angle of liquids on solids but with surfactant molecules being distinguished by their special inter-facial behaviour. 
What of the Practical uses of surface chemistry
As an interdisciplinary science, surface chemistry deals with the specific interactions and properties of materials at phase boundaries and the physico-chemical changes due to these interactions. Basic phenomena such as adhesion, capillarity, surface tension, and wetting are explained by means of thermodynamic, quantum-chemical, and electro-dynamic considerations. The relationship between existing forces and the occurring effects on the static and dynamic behaviour of liquid, solid and gaseous phases at their spatial boundaries are modelled in the forms of equations. In this way the properties of real interfaces can be described in the best possible approximation.
Measuring Methods
Surface chemistry uses a variety of different measuring methods. The choice between methods to be used depends on the application. We have a brief description of a variety of methods available.
| Measurement of the critical surface tension of a flourine polymer (PTFE) |
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| Determination of the contact angle of a pigment powder with the modified Washburn method |
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| Isotherm of a surfactant with determination of the CMC |
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Click the above images to have a closer look at the graphs.
Products
At DataPhysics, natural scientists and engineers work in close cooperation with customers, scientific institutes and research institutions on new products for measuring surface chemical properties. It is their aim to give a fresh impetus to the progress of surface chemistry by their innovative power and to develop superior products for critical customers.
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DataPhysics’ products are the latest state-of-the-art. They impress by their functional design, and with their solid precise mechanics designed for a long service life, they guarantee a maximum measuring accuracy over many years of operation. Intelligent micro-electronics and convenient software such as 32-bit applications under Windows NT® ensure a comfortable and efficient operation. |
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