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Updated: May 4, 2026

Orientational Transition in a Liquid Crystal Triggered by the Thermodynamic Growth of Interfacial Wetting Sheets
Published on: May 15, 2017
Wetting transition in water
S R Friedman1, M Khalil1, P Taborek1
1Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California 92697, USA.
Abstract:
Optical images were used to study the wetting behavior of water on graphite, sapphire, and quartz along the liquid vapor coexistence curve from room temperature to 300 °C. Wetting transitions were identified by the temperature at which the contact angle decreased to zero and also by the disappearance of dropwise condensation. These two methods yielded consistent values for the wetting temperatures, which were 185 °C, 234 °C, and 271 °C for water on quartz, sapphire, and graphite, respectively. We compare our results with the theoretical predictions based on a simplified model of the water-substrate potential and sharp interfaces.
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