Prof. Zuo invents an easy-to-use technique to measure the hydrophobicity of micro- and nanoparticle

Surface free energy (SFE) of particulate matter determines its hydrophobicity and wettability, thus controlling aggregation and dispersion of the particles. However, there are no easy-to-use methods available for determining the SFE of particles. This work demonstrated an inexpensive optical method for quantitatively determining the SFE and hydrophobicity of various micro- and nanoparticles.