Based on the work of Padday,[1] this method finds wide use in the preparation and monitoring of Langmuir–Blodgett films, ink & coating development, pharmaceutical screening, and academic research.
The rod is cleaned with water, alcohol and a flame or with strong acid to ensure complete removal of surfactants.
[1][2][3][4][5] An important advantage of the maximum pull force technique is that the receding contact angle on the probe is effectively zero.
This is observed as a maximum in the force curve, which relates to the surface tension through The above derivation holds for ideal conditions.
Non-idealities, e.g. from defect probe shape, are partly compensated in the calibration routine using a solution with known surface tension.
Due to its small size the rod can be used in high throughput instruments that use a 96-well plate to determine the surface tension.
The physicochemical profiling of poorly soluble drug candidates performed using a HTS surface tension device.