Line Energy and the Relation between Advancing, Receding, and Young Contact Angles

The line energy associated with the triple phase contact line is a function of local surface defects (chemical and topographical); however, it can still be calculated from the advancing and receding contact angles to which those defects give rise. In this study an expression for the line energy associated with the triple phase contact line is developed. The expression relates the line energy to the drop volume, the interfacial energies, and the actual contact angle (be it advancing, receding, or in between). From the expression we can back calculate the equilibrium Young contact angle, theta0, as a function of the maximal advancing, thetaA, and minimal receding, thetaR, contact angles. To keep a certain maximal hysteresis between advancing and receding angles, different line energies are required depending on the three interfacial energies and the drop's volume V. We learn from the obtained expressions that the hysteresis is determined by some dimensionless parameter, K, which is some normalized line energy. The value of K required to keep a constant hysteresis (thetaA-thetaR) rises to infinity as we get closer to theta0 = 90 degrees.