The 16th India Surface Coating Show

Contact angle measurement is a key technique in the printing industry, used to guide formulation and pretreatment parameters and evaluate performance metrics such as wettability, (re)coatability, defect control, and adhesion. While static contact angles are widely recognised, dynamic contact angle measurements are often underutilised, likely due to the complexity and time required – typically taking two hours or more for a full set of measurements. In this presentation, we introduce a novel method called the "Stood-up Drop" technique, which enables rapid and reliable measurement of recently receded contact angles, reducing the typical measurement time from hours to mere seconds. Through application examples, we demonstrate how the recently receded contact angle proves to be significantly more sensitive than commonly used metrics like static or advancing contact angles, as well as surface free energy determinations. This talk will be particularly valuable for those interested in using highly sensitive tools to evaluate surface printability, especially following pretreatment processes such as corona, plasma, or other chemical treatments.