This is a practical guide to Surface Science for researchers working in the Construction Industry.
In this all-new guide you’ll learn all about:
Let’s dive right in.
In construction, many durability problems start at a surface. A sealant that will not wet a dusty joint lets water in. A paint that goes onto an oily steel part peels after a season outdoors.
These are the places where wetting decides yield in construction work:
The Dropometer portable contact angle kit measures contact angle, surface and interfacial tension, surface free energy and sliding angle with one setup. Its method was validated against a KRUSS DSA100E in two peer reviewed papers. If you are new to the terms, start with wettability.
We use the following surface properties to understand the behavior of Construction products and improve their quality.
Sample Image taken from Droplet Lab Tensiometer.
Young – Laplace Method
Polynomial Method
Ideally, when we place a drop on a solid surface, a unique angle exists between the liquid and the solid surface. We can calculate the value of this ideal contact angle (the so-called Young’s contact angle) using Young’s equation. In practice, due to surface geometry, roughness, heterogeneity, contamination, and deformation, the contact angle value on a surface is not necessarily a single consistent value but rather falls within a range. The upper and lower limits of this range are known as the advancing and receding contact angles, respectively. The values of advancing and receding contact angles for a solid surface are highly sensitive to many parameters, such as temperature, humidity, homogeneity, and minor contamination of the surface and liquid. For example, the advancing and receding contact angles of a surface can differ at different locations.
Practical surfaces and coatings naturally show contact angle hysteresis, indicating a range of equilibrium values. When we measure static contact angles, we get a single value within this range. Solely relying on static measurements poses problems, like poor repeatability and incomplete surface assessment regarding adhesion, cleanliness, roughness, and homogeneity.
In practical applications, we need to understand how easily a liquid spreads (advancing angle) and how easily it is removed (receding angle), such as in painting and cleaning. Measuring advancing and receding angles offers a holistic view of liquid-solid interaction, unlike static measurements, which yield an arbitrary value within the range.
This insight is crucial for real-world surfaces with variations, roughness, and dynamics, aiding industries like cosmetics, materials science, and biotechnology in designing effective surfaces and optimizing processes.
Learn how Contact Angle measurement is done on our Tensiometer
For a more complete understanding of Contact Angle measurement, read our Contact Angle measurement: The Definitive Guide
These reference measurements show how deionized water wets four standard substrates measured with the Droplet Lab Dropometer. Use them as visual and numerical benchmarks when you're checking your own sample preparation, treatments, and chemistry.
Full contact angle and surface energy datasets (including additional liquids and statistics) are available on our dataset hub.
The droplet images above are taken from the same benchmark series as our open dataset. For each substrate and probe liquid we report:
● Advancing and receding contact angles (and hysteresis)
● Derived surface energy (SFE) values based on multi-liquid measurements
● Measurement conditions, uncertainties, and sample preparation details
Comparing your own droplet shapes and angles against these references is a fast way to spot contamination, treatment drift, or unexpected changes in wettability.
This property measures the force that acts on the surface of a liquid, aiming to minimize its surface area.
Sample Image taken from Droplet Lab Tensiometer
Dynamic Surface Tension
Dynamic surface tension differs from static surface tension, which refers to the surface energy per unit area (or force acting per unit length along the edge of a liquid surface).
Static surface tension characterizes the equilibrium state of the liquid interface, while dynamic surface tension accounts for the kinetics of changes at the interface. These changes could involve the presence of surfactants, additives, or variations in temperature, pressure, and composition at the interface.
When to use Dynamic Surface Tension Measurement
Dynamic surface tension is essential for processes that involve rapid changes at the liquid-gas or liquid-liquid interface, such as droplet and bubble formation, coalescence (change in surface area), the behavior of foams, and the drying of paints (change in composition, e.g., evaporation of solvent). It is measured by analyzing the shape of a hanging droplet over time.
Dynamic surface tension applies to various industries, including cosmetics, coatings, pharmaceuticals, paint, food and beverage, and industrial processes, where understanding and controlling the behavior of liquid interfaces is essential for product quality and process efficiency.
Learn how Surface Tension measurement is done on our Tensiometer
For a more complete understanding of Surface Energy measurement, read our Surface Tension measurement: The Definitive Guide
Sample Image taken from Droplet Lab Tensiometer
Learn how Surface Energy measurement is done on our Tensiometer
For a more complete understanding of Surface Energy measurement, read our Surface Energy measurement: The Definitive Guide
For benchmark contact angle and surface energy values on glass, nylon, PMMA, and Teflon, see the Open Benchmark Data panel above or visit our Dataset Hub for full CSV downloads.
The sliding angle measures the angle at which a liquid film slides over a solid surface. It is commonly employed to assess the slip resistance of a surface.
Sample Image taken from Droplet Lab Tensiometer
Learn how Sliding Angle measurement is done on our Tensiometer
For a more complete understanding of Sliding Angle measurement, read our Sliding Angle Measurement: The Definitive Guide
Within the Construction industry, several case studies exemplify the advantages of conducting surface property measurements.
Dust and grime on solar panels cut output, and a self cleaning coating only helps while it keeps working. Superhydrophobic coatings aim for a high contact angle and a low sliding angle. Photocatalytic coatings aim for an angle near zero.
ISO 27448 describes self cleaning tests for photocatalytic coatings using water contact angle under UV light. The Dropometer reads the angle but has no UV lamp. Our anti soiling use case sets out the test plan, and glass cleaning verification shows how to check that glass is clean before coating.
Water that gets into concrete, stone or mortar causes leaks and frost damage. Water repellent treatments are compared by the static water contact angle they give, read at a set time after the drop lands.
EN 15802 describes this test for porous stone, brick, mortar and plaster. Untreated stone often absorbs the drop or reads below 10 degrees, which is below the Dropometer range, so record those drops as below range. A high angle does not show treatment depth, so pair it with an absorption test.
Wet walkways become slippery when water sits on them in a film. Hydrophobic tiles and coatings aim to make water bead up and run off. Contact angle shows how strongly the surface repels water, and sliding angle shows whether drops move.
Contact angle does not measure slip resistance, so keep your slip test as the acceptance test. Use wetting readings to compare treatments and to see when a coating wears. Our hydrophobic coating verification page explains how to tell a worn coating from a dirty one.
Bonded steel and concrete joints depend on surface prep on both sides. Surface free energy, worked out from contact angles of two or more probe liquids, shows whether each surface is ready to bond.
EN 828 describes how to get wettability and surface free energy from static contact angles. Work out surface free energy with our surface energy calculator. The adhesive failure use case explains how to set limits from parts that bonded well.
Paint peels from metal when oil, residue or oxide stays on the surface after pretreatment. Water contact angle after cleaning, or after plasma treatment, shows whether the surface is ready to coat.
Craters and fisheyes in wet paint often come from silicone or oil on the part. Our pages on peeling and adhesion failures and fisheyes, craters and crawling show how to set a gate from your own panels. Confirm adhesion after cure with a tape or pull off test.
If you are interested in implementing these or any other applications, please contact us.
In an industry where precision reigns supreme, how can Construction manufacturers ensure their products withstand scrutiny? The answer lies in standards and guidelines: the compass that guides them through the complex maze of quality and performance.
European standard method to determine a solid surface’s wettability and surface free energy (or critical surface tension) by measuring static contact angles of one or more probe liquids on a plane test surface. The resulting metrics support predictions of adhesive wet-out and help characterize surfaces before pretreatment, coating, or bonding.
Use contact angle + surface free energy to quickly flag low-wet-out substrates (metals, plastics, glass, coated parts) before you spend time on full lap-shear/peel trials.
Use repeatable, multi-liquid measurements to detect contamination, treatment drift (plasma/corona/flame/primer), and surface aging/recovery that can drive adhesion failures.
Note: EN 828 tells you how to measure and calculate wettability/SFE, but it does not define universal “good bonding” thresholds, your limits must be calibrated to your adhesive + substrate + pretreatment and validated against bond tests. Roughness and chemical non-uniformity can bias static angles, so consistent surface prep, replication, and drop-quality QC are essential.
We hope this guide showed you how to apply surface science in the Construction industry.
Now we’d like to turn it over to you:
Feel free to leave a comment below—we’d love to hear from you.
Start with the failure you need to stop. Use water contact angle to check a surface before you bond, seal or paint it. Add surface free energy when you compare primers or treatments. Use sliding angle for water repellent and self cleaning coatings. Our contact angle guide and sliding angle guide explain each method.
EN 828 describes wettability and surface free energy from static contact angles before bonding. EN 15802 covers static water contact angle on porous stone, brick and mortar. ISO 27448 covers self cleaning photocatalytic coatings. The Dropometer uses the sessile drop method these standards describe. Buy the current edition before you write a procedure.
Yes, on treated surfaces. On porous materials the drop soaks in, so the angle falls over time. Read it at a fixed time and report that time with the result. Untreated stone may absorb the drop or read below 10 degrees, which is below the Dropometer range. Our EN 15802 page explains how to handle those drops.
The Dropometer is portable but it is not a handheld probe. It works on a bench, on a fixture at the part, or in a custom build. For very large or fixed surfaces, test witness coupons treated alongside the part, or cut sections. Our large parts use case explains the options and the limits, such as vertical surfaces that cannot hold a drop.
Not on its own. A high contact angle shows a surface repels water, but drops can still stick. Sliding angle shows whether drops roll off and carry dirt with them. Photocatalytic coatings work the other way, with an angle near zero so water spreads as a film. See roll off and sliding angle and our anti soiling page.
The drop shape method was validated against a KRUSS DSA100E in two peer reviewed papers, one in Review of Scientific Instruments and one in Colloids and Surfaces A. Published contact angle accuracy is 0.35 degrees. Automatic edge and baseline detection gives the same reading from the same image. See our validation papers.
Yes. The US R&D site of a global fused silica and quartz maker added pendant drop surface tension, contact angle and surface energy with one Dropometer, at a site that had none of the three before. For cleaning checks on glass surfaces, see our glass cleaning verification use case. Browse all case studies.
