Follow the evolution of grafted materials by their surface properties: Influence of grafting on the dispersive surface energy

Executive summary

Modifications and optimizations of material’s surface properties are important issues for Research and Development in industry and academic departments. Several questions often arises:
 

How can we identify the modifications of the surface - beyond simple application test ? What are the real impacts of such modifications on the surface properties and the interaction potential of solid material?

Inverse Gas Chromatography has proved its capability to provide detailed information on a material’s surface. This technique probes the surface of a material by dynamic gas adsorption of different molecular compounds interacting with the surface of the solid material. These molecular probes help to access many different properties of a surface. Among the properties provided by the IGC technique, the notion of dispersive component of the surface energy is introduced through an example. Silica materials grafted at different ratios are compared on basis of the surface energy. Thereby, the methods and its basics are explained in details.
IGC can easily be applied to any kind of solid materials, especially powders and fibers, but also flat, coated surfaces. It provides insights into surface modifications and subsequent optimizations.
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