Surface science

tendency of a liquid surface to shrink to reduce surface area

thumb|Brunauer, Emmett, and Teller's #BET|model of multilayer adsorption is a random distribution of molecules on the material surface.

ability of a liquid to flow in narrow spaces

thumb|165° water contact angle on a surface modified using plasma technology system surface chemistry. The contact angle is the red angle plus 90°. thumb|Dew drop on a hydrophobic leaf surface thumb|Cutting a water droplet using a [[superhydrophobic knife on superhydrophobic surfaces]] thumb|Water drops on the hydrophobic surface of grass

thumb|Goniometer made by Develey le Jeune in Lausanne, late 18th–early 19th century

thumb|Schedorhinotermes termites use hydrophilic surfaces on body and wings to attach themselves to plants they colonize.

self-cleaning properties that are a result of ultrahydrophobicity as exhibited by the leaves of Nelumbo or "lotus flower"

thumb|alt=Close-up of a drop of water (almost spherical) on blue fabric, with a shadow under it|Water bead on a fabric that has been made non-wetting by chemical treatment.

German chemist pioneer in surface science

layer enriched with ions of opposite charge to that carried by a solid surface to maintain electroneutrality in solution

angle between a liquid–vapor interface and a solid surface

thumb|250px|A commercial AJA Orion sputtering system at Cornell NanoScale Science and Technology Facility thumb|Ion thruster operating on iodine (yellow) using a xenon (blue) hollow cathode. High-energy ions emitted from Spacecraft electric propulsion|plasma thrusters sputter material off the surrounding test chamber, causing problems for ground testing of high-power thrusters. In physics, sputtering is a phenomenon in which microscopic particles of a solid material are ejected from its surface, after the material is itself bombarded by energetic particles of a plasma or gas. It occurs natural

study of both physical and chemical phenomena that occur at the interface of two phases

total surface of a solid per mass

surface-sensitive quantitative spectroscopic technique

Desorption is the physical process where adsorbed atoms or molecules are released from a surface into the surrounding vacuum or fluid. This occurs when a molecule gains enough energy to overcome the activation barrier and the binding energy that keep it attached to the surface.

analytical technique used specifically in the study of surfaces

boundary between different phases of matter

the reduction in the hardness and ductility of a material by a surface-active molecular film

Stiction (a portmanteau of the words static and friction) is the force that needs to be overcome to enable relative motion of stationary objects in contact. Any solid objects pressing against each other (but not sliding) will require some threshold of force parallel to the surface of contact in order to overcome static adhesion. Stiction is a threshold, not a continuous force. However, stiction might also be an illusion made by the rotation of kinetic friction.

quantifies the disruption of intermolecular bonds that occurs when a surface is created

thumb|Adatom according to the Terrace ledge kink|TLK model

Hydrosilylation, also called catalytic hydrosilation, describes the addition of Si-H bonds across unsaturated bonds. Ordinarily the reaction is conducted catalytically and usually the substrates are unsaturated organic compounds. Alkenes and alkynes give alkyl and vinyl silanes; aldehydes and ketones give silyl ethers, while esters provide alkyl silyl mixed acetals. Hydrosilylation has been called the "most important application of platinum in homogeneous catalysis."

nonlinear optical process

Non-destructive elemental analysis technique

Physisorption, also called physical adsorption, is a process in which the electronic structure of the atom or molecule is barely perturbed upon adsorption.

enrichment of atoms, ions and molecules

equation that describes the change in vapour pressure due to a curved liquid–vapor interface

general process involving the motion of adatoms, molecules, and atomic clusters (adparticles) at solid material surfaces

a surface-sensitive technique that enhances Raman scattering by molecules adsorbed on rough metal surfaces or by nanostructures such as plasmonic-magnetic silica nanotubes

measurement of kinetic energy spectra of photoelectrons emitted by molecules which have absorbed ultraviolet photons, in order to determine molecular orbital energies in the valence region

thumb|A drop on a lotus surface, with a contact angle of greater than 146°. thumb|thumbtime=0.2|A water droplet falling onto a superhydrophobic, elastic surface.

peer-reviewed scientific journal

thumb|Galling on the threads not protected by PTFE tape on a NPT fitting (zoom in on first few threads for better view). thumb|250px|An electron microscope image shows transferred sheet-material accumulated on a tool surface during sliding contact under controlled laboratory conditions. The outgrowth of material or localized, roughening and creation of protrusions on the tool surface is commonly referred to as a lump. thumb|250px|The damage on the metal sheet, wear mode, or characteristic pattern shows no breakthrough of the oxide surface layer, which indicates a small amount of adhesive mater

a noncontact variant of atomic force microscopy

Phenomenon in physics

describes the process in which water vapor condenses and forms liquid cloud drops

Model describing the adsorption of a mono-layer of gas molecules on an ideal flat surface

Water-repellant coating

Coating primarily used on cookware to prevent foods without crust from sticking

unit of exposure of an adsorbate/gas to a substrate used in surface science to study adsorption

type of lab equipment

natural phenomenon

thumb|Schematic diagram of one particular realization of nanofluidics in a nanocapillary array membrane, or NCAM. The NCAM is composed of a large number of parallel nanocapillaries, each of which have a pore radius, a/2, which is approximately the same size as the Debye length, κ−1. The electrical double layer is characterized by a counter-ion distribution, N, which is largest at the pore wall and decays toward the center of the pore. Nanofluidics is the study of the behavior, manipulation, and control of fluids that are confined to structures of nanometer (typically 1–100 nm) characteris

technique used to characterize the chemical and structural makeup of materials

award conferred by the American Physical Society

Method for observing interactions between molecules and surfaces

In fluid mechanics, dewetting is one of the processes that can occur at a solid–liquid, solid–solid, or liquid–liquid interface. Generally, dewetting describes the process of retraction of a fluid from a non-wettable surface it was forced to cover. The opposite process—spreading of a liquid on a substrate—is called wetting. The factor determining the spontaneous spreading and dewetting for a drop of liquid placed on a solid substrate with ambient gas, is the so-called spreading coefficient : thumb|right|Surface tension diagram of a liquid droplet on a solid substrate. The surface of the liqui

describes the effective contact angle θc for a liquid on a composite surface