ABSTRACT
The colloidal domain comprises a wide variety of curved interfaces. For instance, biotechnological and biomedical systems often contain foams, emulsions, or other dispersions. Micelles, vesicles, liposomes, and various biological cells are encountered in bionanotechnology. Furthermore, there are numerous physical phenomena where curved interfaces play a crucial role. Capillary rise and capillary depression, illustrated in Figure 6.1, are well-known examples. If the inside of a capillary is wetted by the liquid, capillary rise is observed whereas nonwetting results in capillary depression. The angle θ between the liquid and the solid, the so-called contact angle, is a measure for the wettability of the solid: the better the wetting, the sharper the contact angle. Wetting phenomena will be treated in detail in Chapter 8.
