Quantifying Surface Wetting Properties Using Droplet Probe Atomic Force Microscopy

The functional properties of a surface, such as its anti-fogging or anti-fouling performance, are influenced by its wettability. To quantify surface wettability, the most common approach is to measure the contact angles of a liquid droplet on the surface. While well established and relatively easy to perform, contact angle measurements were developed to describe macroscopic wetting properties and are difficult to perform for submillimetric droplets. Moreover, they cannot spatially resolve surface heterogeneities that can contribute to surface fouling. To address these shortcomings, we report on using an atomic force microscopy technique to quantitatively measure the interaction forces between a microdroplet and a surface with piconewton force resolution. We show how our technique can be used to spatially map topographical and chemical heterogeneities with micron resolution.