A quasi two-dimensional bubble method for surface tension and contact angle measurements at the crystal-melt interface. I. Theoretical background

Abstract A method for simultaneous determination of the surface tension of liquids and of the contact angle between liquid and solid is proposed, in view of studying the wettability of a crystal by its own melt. The method is based on the shape of a gas bubble captured at the solid-liquid interface inside a thin cell with plane-parallel walls. This quasi two-dimensional configuration simplifies the theoretical treatment of the bubble shape with respect to that in a three-dimensional space. It is stressed that contact angle is independent of dimensionality.