What determines the wettability of a surface?

COLL 109

Miquel Salmeron, Materials Science, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Rd, Berkeley, CA CA 94720
The wettability of a surface, whether a metal or an oxide depends on the ability of the surface to exhibit OH groups or to contain ions that can be solvated and structure water through electrostatic forces. OH groups can be produced by a reaction whereby water dissociates into OH and H, or by the presence of OH groups in the original surface. I will illustrate this with examples of H2O adsorption on oxides (Mica, Cu2O, TiO2, SiO2) and metals (Ru), using a variety of techniques that include photoelectron spectroscopy and scanning tunneling microscopy.