Optical and surface
A dynamic analysis of liquid droplets applied on a material surface can be used to determine the performance of the surface during a later process.
The basic concept of static contact angle has been in use for some 200 years. Today’s camera technology and powerful computers has taken the original concept of static contact angles to a new level, where the dynamic interaction between a liquid droplet and a surface can be studied as a function of time.
Contact angles as a testing method have over the years moved far outside the solid surface applications for which they originally were defined. When the contact angle concept was introduced for several applications some 50 years ago, it was not commonly accepted by the industry because of difficulties in obtaining reliable correlation with experienced problems in printing, coating and gluing applications.
Today the use of dynamic contact angle and sorption as a function of time have gained wide acceptance as reliable test for applications occurring also in fractions of a second. The practical usage of contact angles and the relationship between wetting (contact angle) and sorption (penetration) can explain practical problems related to printing, gluing and coating.
Read more about measuring the dynamic absorption and wetting
Products
Contact angle measurement Dosing unit
The PG dosing unit is based on a standard syringe pump for low-cost disposable syringes. The complete liquid system consists of a one mL syringe, a dispensing tip and a PTFE tubing. This standard syringe produces more than 200 liquid droplets of four microlitres. When the syringe is emptied or not required any more, the entire liquid system can be removed.
Contact angle measurement PG-2
The pocket goniometer PG-2 is an automated instrument for measurements of static and dynamic contact angles even on absorbent materials like paper.
Testinks
These test inks measure the surface tension of polymers. Several inks with different surface tensions are available. Due to their simple use, these inks are often used in a production environment. For laboratories, these inks can be changed by a goniometer.
Dynamic absorption tester
The DAT can capture up to 1000 images per second. These instruments enable detailed automatic analysis at full video speed of the interaction between a liquid droplet and a specimen surface.
PGX contact angle analyser
The PGX is a compact instrument that measures wetting and absorption on virtually any size or shape surface without the need to cut sample strips. This enables the surface testing of almost any 3-dimensional product including: a table top, the roof or bumper of a car, drywall board, a glass bottle, a metal can... By using the external dosing unit, the effects of…
Contact angle measurement PG-3
The PG-3 is similar to the model PG-2. In addition the PG-3 model has an integrated micro-pump, which can deliver accurate droplets in 0.5l steps.