Wetting of low-energy surfaces.

Results of current theoretical methods for the calculation of contact angles on low-energy surfaces as functions of composition of solution and surface properties are reviewed.

Disjoining pressure of thin nonfreezing interlayers.

At subzero temperatures, it has been found that nonfreezing water interlayers form between the inner smooth surface of a thin quartz capillary and the ice in the capillary core. The dilatometry method has been used to measure the thicknesses of these nonfreezing interlayers over a range of temperatures between -1 and -0.14 degrees C and for applied pressures up to 8 MPa.

Reversible adsorption inside pores of ultrafiltration membranes.

A range of experiments were performed on the dead-end ultrafiltration (UF) of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) of different molecular weights. Deviations from a linear dependence of the filtration rate with the applied membrane pressure difference were found. It is shown that these deviations are not caused by an osmotic pressure influence but determined by the reversible adsorption of PEG molecules inside the pores of the ultrafiltration membranes used.