AbstractAverage advancing and receding contact angles made against cotton and glass fibers by a set of probe liquids are determined using the Wilhelmy technique. The dispersive and polar components of the surface energy are calculated from the measured contact angles using both the geometric and the harmonic mean methods. It is found that these components are similar for untreated cellulose and glass fibers, and that they both have a high polar component, corresponding to a hydrophilic surface. Changes in surface energy caused by treatment of the cellulose fiber surfaces with melamine, polyethyleneimine (PEI), and a silane coupling agent are reported. It is found in particular that polyethyleneimine treatment of cellulose significantly reduces the polar component of its surface energy. While treatment of glass fibers with a silane coupling agent reduces the polar component and increases the dispersive component of the surface energy it shows little effect on the surface energy of cellulose.
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