Partial to complete wetting: A microscopic derivation of the Young relation

Abstract

This paper is devoted to the study of the Young equation, which gives a connection between surface tensions and contact angle. We derive the generalized form of this equation for anisotropic models using thermodynamic considerations. In two dimensions with SOS-like approximations of the interface, we prove that the surface tension may be computed explicitly as a simple integral, which of course depends upon the orientation of the interface. This allows a complete study of the wetting transition when a constant wall “attraction” is taken into account within the SOS and Gaussian models. We therefore give a complete analysis of the variation of the contact angle with the temperature for those models. It is found that for certain values of the parameters, two wetting transitions may successively appear, one at low temperature and one at high temperature, giving the following states: film—droplet—film. This study rests upon the generalized Young equation, the validity of which is proved for the Gaussian model with a constant wall attraction, using microscopic considerations.