ABSTRACT
United Kingdom c Université de Bordeaux, Institute de Mécanique et d’Ingénierie, CNRS UMR 5295, Bâtiment A4,
351 Cours de la Libération, 33405 Talence Cedex, France
Contents A. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 B. Wetting of Ideal and Real Surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 C. of Pure Liquids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 D. Spreading of Surfactant Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 E. Spreading over Hydrophobic Substrates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 F. Spreading of Surfactant Solutions over Thin Aqueous Layers: Influence of Solubility and Micelle
Disintegration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 G. Instabilities in the Course of Spreading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 H. Spreading of Surfactant Solutions over Substrates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 I. superspreading]Superspreading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 J. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
A. Introduction
A great number of industrial processes and practical applications are based on wetting and spreading. Understanding these phenomena is crucial in designing many pharmaceutical, agricultural and bio-medical products, such as herbicides and pesticides, paints and coatings, as well as ink-jet printers and lung-surfactants. Although this interesting topic has been studied for over two centuries, there are still certain underlying mechanisms waiting to be revealed.
