Argentina. A software and a device to measure the behavior of a certain liquid when it comes into contact with a surface was carried out by a group of scientists from INTI (Nacoinal Institute of Industrial Technology) of Buenos Aires.
This new system is considered fundamental for the sector, due to its low cost and that it allows to test products with just a drop.
Ensuring the quality of the wetting or wetting process is key for the industry and can be decisive for some products, for example to analyze the ability of a waterproof fabric to prevent the passage of water. In order to solve this demand, INTI specialists developed a low-cost national team that allows anticipating how the interaction of a certain liquid on a material will be. "To measure it we chose a method known as contact angle, which determines this value from the figure that forms a drop on a material to be studied. To carry out the test, we developed a device and an innovative mobile application," explains Diego Menéndez, from INTI's Center for Surface Processes.
The equipment has cap holders, a plate –flat surface where the liquid to be analyzed is placed–, a lighting system to generate greater contrast and definition in the drop, and an adjustable support to place any mobile device and move it in all directions.
To make the measurement, the liquid is placed in the micropipette, a drop is applied to a surface, the luminaire is turned on and a photo is taken with a cell phone. Then the image is studied through a mobile application, which takes advantage of the advantages of portability and accessibility provided by this technology. The lower the contact angle that the drop forms, the greater its wetting capacity.
Source: www.barilochedigital.com
