Industrial Applications of Surfactants, and Surfactants in Emerging Technologies

Surface sizing generally refers to the process of imparting paper resistance to wetting by liquid through the surface modification of paper. In this study, the interfacial phenomena in surface sizing were examined by considering the penetration of liquid into the porous structure of paper. By modifying Fowkes’ original study on the work of adhesion [F.M. Fowkes, Ind. Eng. Chem..56, no.12,40 (1964)] and Washburn-Lucas model [E.W. Washburn, Phys. Rev., 17,273 (1921); R. Lucas, Kolloid-Z, 21,15 (1918)] on capillary penetration, a theoretical framework on the penetration of liquid into surface-sized substrate is presented. Theoretical analysis was made to determine the criteria and governing factors in developing the resistance to polar and nonpolar liquids. The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the management of PPG Industries for this work.