Characterizing the spreading behavior of radius, contact angle, and spreading velocity of trisiloxane "superspreader" surfactants:/

The ability of surfactants to lower surface tension makes them a key element in many products in a variety of industries. Trisiloxane surfactants have shown extraordinary wetting on hydrophobic surfaces, and are known as "superspreaders". Studies in the past have had inconsistent results characterizing the spreading of these surfactants. In this study, the radius and contact angle during spreading of different concentrations of trisiloxane ethoxylate are measured in a humidity-controlled box. Consistent with other studies, concentrations above the critical aggregation concentration spread more, resulting in lower contact angles and larger radii. The spreading behavior for radius and contact angle can be modeled using an exponential fit. Using the exponential models, a relationship between spreading velocity and contact angle can be found. For concentrations above the critical aggregation concentration, a linear relationship between contact angle and spreading velocity was found.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2012

Author dc:creator

• Vaskov, Sean K. (Sean Kikeri)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Anette E. Hosoi.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/74913

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/74913