Interfacial Segregation Effects in Wetting Phenomena

Wetting generally involves three phases and is controlled by the energies of the three interfaces that separate each of the three pairs of phases. Because interfacial segregation can significantly modify interfacial energies, it plays an important role in wetting phenomena. This paper is divided into two principal parts. The first part describes the effects of interfacial energy anisotropy in wetting equilibrium, the thermodynamics of segregation and its effects on interfacial energies, and the interaction of segregation and wetting. The second part reviews some experimental approaches for controlling and monitoring interfacial segregation in wetting studies and summarizes examples of wetting experiments in which such approaches have been used effectively to understand the impact of segregation effects.