Capillary Forces Described by Effective Contact Angle Distributions via Simulations of the Centrifuge Technique

Understanding particle adhesion is vital to any industry where particulate systems are involved. There are multiple factors that affect the strength of the adhesion force, including the physical properties of the interacting materials and the system conditions. Surface roughness on the particles and the surfaces to which they adhere, including roughness at the nanoscale, is critically important to the adhesion force. The focus of this work is on the capillary force that dominates the adhesion whenever condensed moisture is present. Theoretical capillary forces were calculated for smooth particles adhered to smooth and rough surfaces. Simulations of the classical centrifuge technique used to describe particle adhesion to surfaces were performed based on these forces. A model was developed to describe the adhesion of the particles to the rough surface in terms of the adhesion to a smooth surface and an ‘effective’ contact angle distribution.