Surface free energy

Surface energy quantifies the disruption of intermolecular bonds that occurs when a surface is created. In the physics of solids, surfaces must be intrinsically less energetically favorable than the bulk of a material, otherwise there would be a driving force for surfaces to be created, removing the bulk of the material. The surface energy may therefore be defined as the excess energy at the surface of a material compared to the bulk. Below are examples of application areas where instruments from the Biolin Scientific group can be used.

 SFE: Background, calculation and examples by using contact angle measurement