title: The dynamic nature of contact angles as measured by atomic force microscopy.
abstract: Atomic force microscopy appears to be a useful tool for determining the contact angle for small particles. It is shown in this paper that the contact angle of a spherical polyethylene particle changes with the speed of the AFM piezoelectric translator. Such dynamic behavior of the contact angle and other uncertainties such as the position of the three-phase contact on the particle surface during bubble-particle interaction make it difficult to decide whether or not the AFM single-particle contact angle can be used to describe the hydrophobic state of the particle surface.
authors.forename: Anh V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.forename: Jakub
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nalaskowski
authors.forename: Jan D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Miller