Contact angles and their hysteresis as a measure of liquid-solid adhesion

The wetting behavior of a series of aliphatic polyamides was examined. Polyamides and polyethylene were molded against glass to produce smooth surfaces. 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 contact angle hysteresis increased. Wetting free energies calculated from contact angles were equal to those from dewetting, suggesting that contact angle hysteresis did not arise from surface anomalies, but from hydrogen bonding between water and the amide groups in the polyamide surfaces.