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Measuring the Interaction Force Between a Droplet and a Super-hydrophobic Substrate by the Optical Lever Method

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Developing a general interaction potential for hydrophobic and hydrophilic interactions.

Stephen H Donaldson¹, Anja Røyne, Kai Kristiansen

¹Department of Chemical Engineering, University of California , Santa Barbara, California 93106-5080, United States.

Langmuir : the ACS Journal of Surfaces and Colloids

|July 30, 2014

Summary

A new interaction potential quantifies hydrophobic and hydrophilic surface forces beyond DLVO theory. This model, using the Hydra parameter, accurately describes attractions and repulsions for various surfaces.

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Area of Science:

Surface Science
Physical Chemistry
Colloid Science

Background:

Existing theories like DLVO (Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek) do not fully capture all forces between surfaces.
Hydrophobic and hydrophilic interactions require a more general model to explain observed attractions and repulsions.

Purpose of the Study:

To develop and validate a general interaction potential for both hydrophobic and hydrophilic surfaces.
To incorporate additional forces beyond DLVO theory into a unified model.

Main Methods:

Review of direct force measurements on various hydrophobic and hydrophilic surfaces.
Development of a general interaction potential: W(D) = -2γ(i)Hy exp(-D/D(H)).
Utilizing the surface forces apparatus (SFA) for hydrophobic interaction measurements.

Main Results:

The proposed potential, using the nondimensional Hydra parameter (Hy), accurately describes interactions.
The interaction energy decays exponentially with a decay length (D(H)) of approximately 0.3-2 nm.
The potential correctly models attractive hydrophobic forces (Hy > 0) and repulsive hydrophilic forces (Hy < 0).

Conclusions:

The developed interaction potential provides a quantitative account for forces not covered by DLVO theory.
The model is applicable to a broad range of surfaces, including mica, silica, and lipid bilayers.
Direct force measurements validate the proposed potential for describing hydrophobic and hydrophilic interactions.