Wetting of the container wall as a critical-point phenomenon. III. Wetting by contacting conjugate solutions of ternary systems

• Published in: Journal of colloid and interface science 1984, Vol.100 (2), p.423-432
• Main Authors: Ross, Sydney, Kornbrekke, Ralph E.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Chemistry; Exact sciences and technology; General and physical chemistry; Solid-liquid interface; Surface physical chemistry
• ISSN: 0021-9797; 1095-7103
• DOI: 10.1016/0021-9797(84)90448-X

In the ternary systems benzene-ethanol-water and ethyl acetate-ethanol-water, the contact angles of the meniscus between two immiscible liquid phases (i.e., conjugate solutions) and a solid substrate tend toward 90° as compositions approach the consolute point at a constant temperature; just as, in a binary system, the contact angles between the corresponding three phases have been shown (in the previous paper of this series) to tend toward 90° as the temperature approaches the critical point. The quantitative expression for the variation of the contact angle with the concentration of the cosolvent in the vicinity of the consolute point in a ternary system also bears a formal mathematical resemblance to that found for the corresponding variation of the contact angle with temperature in a binary system.