Penetration of water/ethanol mixtures into silanized silica fibrous assemblies

Abstract The penetration rates of water/ethanol mixtures into silica fibrous assemblies were determined from the change in electrical conductivity due to wetting. Silica fibrous assemblies were treated with γ-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) and methyltriethoxysilane (MTES). The advancing contact angles of the water/ethanol mixtures on silanized silica, a, were measured by the Wilhelmy method. The electrical conductivity, λ, began to increase at time to after the wetting liquid-fibrous assembly contact and reached a constant value. By comparing the experimental λ - t curve with the curve calculated by the Washburn equation, the capillary distribution of the fibrous assembly was determined. The to value as a measure of the penetration rate increased with increasing volume ratio of ethanol in the water/ethanol mixtures for the untreated and APTES-treated silica fibrous assemblies. This indicates that the addition of ethanol to the wetting liquid decreased the penetration rate. In the case of the MTES-treated silica fibrous assembly, liquid penetration was observed above 30% of ethanol and to decreased with increasing volume ratio of ethanol. On the basis of the Washburn equation, the value of 1/t0 was plotted against λL cos a/η, where γL is the surface tension of the liquid and η is the viscosity of the liquid. As expected, the value of 1/t0 increased linearly with increasing cos a/η. Keywords: Penetrationcapillary wettingsilica fibrous assemblywater/ethanol mixturescontact angle