Water contact angles and hysteresis of polyamide surfaces

The wetting behavior of a series of aliphatic polyamides (PAs) has been examined. PAs with varying amide content and polyethylene (PE) were molded against glass to produce surfaces with similar roughness. After cleaning, chemical composition of the surfaces was verified with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Advancing and receding contact angles were measured from small sessile water drops. Contact angles decreased with amide content while hysteresis increased. Hysteresis arose primarily from molecular interactions between the contact liquid and the solid substrates, rather than moisture absorption, variations in crystallinity, surface deformation, roughness, reorientation of amide groups, or surface contamination. Free energies of hysteresis were calculated from contact angles. For PE, which is composed entirely of nonpolar methylene groups, free energies were equivalent to the strength of dispersive van der Waals bonds. For PAs, free energies corresponded to fractional contributions from the dispersive methylene groups and polar amide groups.