Line tension approaching a first-order wetting transition: Experimental results from contact angle measurements

Abstract
The line tension values of n-octane and 1-octene on a hexadecyltrichlorosilane coated silicon wafer, are determined by contact angle measurements at temperatures near a first-order wetting transition Tw. It is shown experimentally that the line tension changes sign as the temperature increases toward Tw in agreement with a number of theoretical predictions. A simple phenomenological model possessing a repulsive barrier at l0=5.1±0.2nm and a scale factor of B=78±6 provides a quantitative description of the experiments.

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