Temperature Dependence of the Dynamic Contact Angles of Water on a Smooth Stainless-Steel Surface under Elevated Pressures

The temperature dependence of the dynamic contact angles (DCAs) of water on a metallic surface remains unclear, especially under elevated pressures. Here in this work, the advancing and receding contact angles (RCAs), as well as the contact angle hysteresis (CAH), of water on stainless-steel 316 (SS316) surfaces were studied using the dynamic sessile drop method for temperatures up to 300 °C and pressures up to 10 MPa. It was found that the temperature dependence of the DCAs exhibits a different pattern as compared to the piecewise linear decline of static contact angles. The advancing contact angle (ACA) remains nearly constant and does not decrease until the temperature becomes close to the saturated temperature. The decrease in ACA is attributed to evaporation, which reduces the advancement of energy barrier. The RCA linearly declines below 120 °C and remains stable above 120 °C. The increasing temperature enhances the pinning effect and changes the droplet receding mode. Under all pressures tested, the CAH demonstrates a “increase-constant-decrease” trilinear relationship with temperature. Furthermore, the mean solid surface entropy and solid–gas interfacial tension of SS316 were estimated to be 0.1152 mJ/(m 2 ·°C) and 61.49 mJ/m 2, respectively.